Broadband provider BT should be made to pay for the provision of next-generation services, it has been claimed.

As reported by Wales Online, Vtesse Chief Executive Aidan Paul said the government must drop its plans for a 50p a month tax on fixed phone lines and instead charge BT, which owns much of the national telephony infrastructure.

He said the levy – which is designed to fund super-fast broadband access – could prove prohibitive to private investors and grant BT an unfair market advantage.

Mr Paul told MPs that BT's business rates bill had dropped by 27 per cent since 2006, suggesting that it would be simpler to prevent further reductions and use the excess to finance the 2012 goal.

Earlier this week, Charles Trotman, head of rural business development at the Country Land and Business Association, claimed that it should be a "legal obligation" for broadband to be provided across the UK.