He noted that with the tax, the USF generated in excess of $14 billion over a five-year period but the money went into the Consolidated Fund. “They shut off the circuits, for three days those circuits were shut down with the Opposition calling for the Minister’s (Paulwell) head but we didn’t blink and they had to turn on back the circuits after three days because we were able to justify that Jamaica should not be in any way not be able to have full broadband access on the same level as people anywhere in the world,” Paulwell recalled. Paulwell recalled further that for three days after the imposition of the tax, Jamaica was “locked off” because the international carriers protested. “We (Jamaicans) didn’t pay the tax, it was imposed on people calling Jamaica and some people were very upset that we were doing so,” said the veteran MP. He emphasised that this was the thinking behind the fight that the then government had to endure to get the fund establish as he recalled the imposition of the tax on international calls terminating in Jamaica. “The aim was for Jamaica to become a veritable hotspot so if you’re travelling from Kingston to Montego Bay, a public space, you should be able to have free Wi-fi throughout, that was the original aim,” Paulwell stressed. “I’m very concerned about the future of the Universal Service Fund,” said Paulwell while arguing that the original aim was not to have free Wi-fi in various communities but rather throughout the length and breadth of the country. He argued that while he was grateful that the current Government was connecting three communities in each of the 63 constituencies to free Wi-fi, it was woefully inadequate. Paulwell made the suggestion recently during his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representative where he reminded that the USF was established when he was the Minister of Technology in a previous People’s National Party (PNP) Government. KINGSTON, Jamaica- Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal, Phillip Paulwell, is proposing that a tax be imposed on some data services to allow the cash-strapped Universal Service Fund (USF) to better carry out its mandate which includes the provision of free Wi-fi service in public spaces across Jamaica.
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