The Culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, has announced assistance for those on income support and job seekers allowance towards the cost of the digital television switch-over by 2012.
If they "are exactly the people that the State has a duty to protect", why does she expect them to pay as much for their TV licence as those in work? Will the licence fee be increased to provide the subsidy or will there be cuts in "quality" programming?
Subsidising the equipment cost is another dis-incentive to work whilst penalising those already in work.
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3 comments:
It should be simple. The government wants to free-up bandwidth for mobile phones, wifi etc. and wants to know what people are watching hence digidull TV. Added bonus for businesses and advertising is more channels. However, TV shouldn't be a right - it's TV for chrissakes. Unless they're essential e.g. for voting, those who cannot afford to keep up with technology on this front with these prices and this much warning shouldn't be helped out. It's not like they'll die if they miss Coronation Street.
Exactly Geokker.
How can all these people on income support and job seekers allowance afford televisions in the first place? I'm sure they cost more than a new aerial..
Maybe the Government should use bandwidth licence revenue to subsidise the digital switch-over.
The Mail yesterday said it would cost some households hundreds (thousands?) of pounds to convert. I can't remember the exact figure quoted but I worked it out and it meant that they would have to have over 100 TV's in their house to make a £30 Tesco's digibox on each one come to the amount they were bandying around.
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