Govt will use broadband speed as excuse to keep licence fee

At first I didn’t understand media minister John Whittingdale’s idea of linking the survival of the TV licence fee with the availability of fast broadband (News, Issue 602, page 9).

Why should we have to wait until everyone has 100Mbps (or even Gigabit) broadband before axing the anachronistic TV licence?

But then I thought about it more, and I guess it comes down to technology. If you make the BBC a subscription service like Netflix, then presumably it would be much easier to turn that on or off if it’s delivered through the internet.

My big question is what happens to BBC radio. I suspect there are millions of people in the UK who value the BBC’S radio content over its TV output, which sadly has been declining for many years. How easy will it be to separate the BBC’S TV and radio services, so people like me would be allowed to pay only for the latter?

I’d also want the BBC to offer tiers of programming that you can pay for, like Sky does. I might be tempted to pay for

However, when it comes to Windows, nothing can compare with wit Microsoft 365. Also, once o its updates are complete, I can work quite happily on my research and writing. I just need to learn to be b more patient and understanding with Windows.

In the end, I think you have to embrace both systems, using them to suit your individual needs, though I know not everyone will agree. I’m happy with my current ‘marriage’, and won’t be ‘divorcing’ my Windows laptop. There is mutual respect for both systems in my household!

BBC Four, but not the other channels, or specialised music, sport and movie channels. At the moment it’s all or nothing, which is deeply unsatisfactory.

My questions are probably hypothetical anyway because I suspect the problem of the licence fee will be kicked down the road when the charter comes up for renewal in 2027. No matter what the UK’S average broadband speed is by then, I reckon the Government will decree that it’s not fast enough and postpone any decision. This will continue until the BBC’S audience withers to a fraction of what it is now, by which time it might be too late to save.

The Star Letter writer wins a Computeractive mug! g!