[Mr K]

The licence fee isn't going anywhere till at least 2038. Our broadband isn't up to everyone streaming.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics...e-say/#comment

Britain is stuck with the licence fee until 2038 because the Government's failure to roll out super-fast broadband has left no viable alternative, MPs have concluded.

The Government's pledge to deliver full-fibre broadband to every home by 2025 was downgraded to a target of just 85 per cent in November.

A subscription-based, universal alternative to the licence fee would require all households to be online before the next BBC Charter is negotiated for 2028-38. That now appears all but impossible, according to a report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee.

"It's clear that the BBC TV licence fee has a limited shelf life in a digital media landscape. However, the Government has missed the boat to reform it," said Julian Knight, the committee's chairman.

"Instead of coming up with a workable alternative, it has sealed its own fate through a failure to develop a broadband infrastructure that would allow serious consideration of other means to fund the BBC."

A recent report by Parliament's spending watchdog concluded that the 85 per cent target was unlikely to be met within five years.

The DCMS committee's report into the future of public service broadcasting said that "whilst the majority of people in the UK theoretically have access to a broadband connection which would enable them to access online TV services, there are still a significant number of households which do not".

It said there were "significant variations" in broadband coverage between rural and urban areas, and this was "not a problem that will be solved any time soon". According to Ofcom, around 190,000 homes do not have access to a "decent" broadband service.

Additionally, the committee heard from Virgin that a wholly internet-based television service would considerably increase the pressure on broadband networks and require significant investment into network capacity.