Towards a fee of 0.75 € on all fixed and mobile subscriptions?

An amendment proposed in the Senate by an elected Republicans evokes a tax on fixed and mobile subscriptions to finance the reduction of the digital divide.

© iStock – ArtemSam

In the Senate, an amendment submitted by Patrick Chaize (The Republicans) proposed in the framework of the draft law on the evolution of housing, planning and digital evokes a possible "digital solidarity contributionIt would take the form of a new tax of 75 euro cents applied on all fixed and mobile Internet subscriptions, and would contribute to the territorial digital development fund (FANT). This fund, created a decade ago, has no resources at the moment while the government advocates the reduction of the digital divide.

The idea would obviously be to benefit public initiatives to deploy very high speed in rural areas, whether for optical fiber or the future 5G. A way to fight the inequalities of flow that are still growing between urban and rural areas.

The subscribers put to contribution?

Such a contribution would not directly solicit public finances, but would be paid by the customers of digital communication services and harvested by the operators. At a rate of 75 euro cents per month and per subscription, it would allocate a budget of some 850 million euros annually to the FANT. A calculation that is based on the latest figures Arcep, which recorded 94 million fixed and mobile subscriptions in France last September.

In recent years, the idea of ​​such a contribution has made its way several times without succeeding. We remember in particular the proposals of Hervé Maurey or Fabrice Brun. Not sure, however, that in a very tense climate around the level of taxation of the French the idea of ​​a new tax – as minimal as it is – on a service as acclaimed as Internet access is emulated within the majority Parliament and the Government.