Government mulls £11-a-month broadband levy to replace BBC licence fee

The Government is reportedly considering an £11-a-month “Home Internet Levy” added to consumer broadband bills as a possible replacement for the BBC TV licence fee. ISPreview UK reports that the idea is understood to have been proposed to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy by the cross-party Social Market Foundation (SMF) think-tank.

A standard colour TV licence currently costs £180 a year. An £11 monthly charge would work out at £132 a year — slightly cheaper for existing licence payers. But unlike the licence, it would automatically cover every home with a broadband connection, even where nobody watches live television. The SMF proposal includes a special discounted rate for households on social tariffs to protect low-income users.

A second, smaller option is also said to be under examination: a £2.30-a-month “News and Culture Levy” that would be added on top of the existing licence fee rather than replacing it.

A DCMS spokesperson said: “The BBC must be funded by a model that is sustainable and fair to all those that are paying it. Through Charter Review, we are looking at a range of options, including how the BBC can operate more efficiently, generate more commercial revenue, and how the licence fee could be reformed.”

The idea of a broadband levy is not new — it came up before, most recently in 2022 during the early stages of the current Charter Review. As it stands, ministers have made no decision and continue to consider a range of options for funding the corporation.

Sources

• ISPreview UK, “Government considers £11 monthly UK broadband fee to fund BBC TV”, 23 September 2026: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/09/government-considers-11-monthly-uk-broadband-fee-to-fund-bbc-tv.html
• The Sun, “BBC licence fee could be SCRAPPED and replaced with monthly ‘internet charge’ under plans being considered by Labour”: https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/40466621/bbc-licence-fee-scrapped-monthly-internet-charge-considered/