GBP0.89 Trillion Global Tax Revenue Lost Without Broadband Investment

The CEO of Telecoms analyst firm Point Topic UK, Oliver Johnson, has claimed that political leaders, such as Ex-PM Tony Blair, who “are not brave” or knowledgeable enough to invest in a better broadband infrastructure, could be costing the world economy an estimated £0.89 Trillion (annually) in lost tax revenue.

Johnson, whom was speaking at the CommunicAsia event, singled out Tony Blair for his dislike of computers, which the analyst claims resulted in a “a lack of knowledge and understanding” that is apparently common among other world leaders.

This limited understanding allegedly makes it difficult to encourage broadband investment. Tony Blair eventually resigned from in June 2007, several years before the UK’s broadband policy finally started to take shape (Digital Britain was published in 2009).

Oliver Johnson, CEO of PointTopic, said (Total Telecom):

“[There is] a $6.9 trillion per year increase in GDP that we’re not getting because we don’t have broadband everywhere [ED: this apparently equates to about $1.4 trillion in lost tax revenues for governments].”

Furthermore Johnson noted that such investment often takes years to reach its goal, which is longer than the average term in office for a democratic government and thus adds an additional political disincentive.

On top of that you usually have to spend a lot just to get started, with Johnson estimating that it could cost €200 billion to build fibre optic broadband networks around Europe. Waiting 10 years for a return on that investment could, to some political leaders, seem unattractive.