MEP calls for unmetered access in UK

The call for unmetered Internet calls gained another ally Tuesday as MEP Diana Wallis added her voice to the campaign.

Wallis called on Chancellor Gordon Brown to introduce unmetered access immediately. "Unmetered access to the Web should have been the first move the Chancellor made," she said.

BT's CEO Peter Bonfield claimed Monday at the Gartner Symposium in Cannes that costs of access in the UK are competitive with the US, a statement Wallis takes issue with. "Small businesses in the USA and other countries are at a competitive advantage at the moment; unmetered access to the Web would help Britain's entrepreneurs take full advantage of this rapidly evolving technology," she said.

Gordon Brown has promised to provide PCs for £5.00 to people on low incomes and, at the CBI conference in Birmingham Tuesday, announced tax breaks for entrepreneurs. But the MEP attacked the move as being short sighted. "These moves are all very well, but those who can't afford computers, will not be able to afford Internet access either. As for giving tax breaks to entrepreneurs, whilst this may encourage business growth, it will do nothing to promote use of the Internet for trading purposes," she said.

A spokesman for CUT (Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications) welcomed Wallis' comments. "We are glad of all the support we can get, particularly from European MEPs. A lot of the legislation about the Internet is driven from Europe and we are working to get a coherent European body together," he said.

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