Chris

Police and fire authorities are precepting authorities that instruct local councils to collect money for them. Your local council adds this to your council tax bill - in England and Wales you should be able to see it itemised on your bill. It’s done slightly different in Scotland, but here the water and sewage is still in public ownership so you do still see that itemised on the council tax bill.

It would be difficult politically to put a BBC precept on every council tax bill across the UK, however wholesale reform, creating a broadcasting authority with broad responsibility for public tv, radio and communications infrastructure and allowing that to set precepts might work. Public service broadcasters might then bid for funding from this authority for money to fulfil their PSB obligations, with the lion’s share going to the BBC but cash also finding its way to ITV to ensure the continuation of programming that has social value but is increasingly difficult to justify financially.

The only realistic chance we have of switching our comms infrastructure entirely onto IP and related technologies as an alternative to satellite and terrestrial masts is if there’s some kind of public intervention because we are way short of the necessary bandwidth at present, not to mention the raw electrical power needed to run it.