FRANCE: €1-a-day Web Service to Fight Digital Divide

PC and broadband access for elderly, poorest citizens PARIS, France (PC Adviser), July 11, 2006: France plans to offer 1.2 million of the country's poorest and elderly citizens a computer with broadband internet access for a daily fee of €1 (about £0.70), to ensure that they have access to the increasing number of government services available online. The French government has set ambitious targets for making public services available over the internet, but is concerned that almost half the population still lacks regular access to the internet. Just over half of French households now have a PC, and 38 percent of households have internet access, more than 10 million of them with broadband. Including those who use it at work, over half of all French citizens regularly use the internet, according to government figures. However, the proportion of those online is much lower among the elderly and the poor – often those most in need of state-provided services. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced the €1-a-day plan after today's meeting of the Interministerial Committee for the Information Society, which proposed the idea. Service providers will be encouraged to offer bundles consisting of a low-cost PC with software for web browsing, security and productivity, home tuition for those that need it and a broadband internet connection at a tariff equivalent to €15 (£10) a month or less, all on a three-year contract. The government will guarantee the price of €1 a day for the poorest segment of the population, probably using the same selection criteria as a project that offers electricity at a special 'basic needs' tariff. By Peter Sayer