ICTs

Introduction Internet Access for Lower-income French Household French Desperate Housewives – Video on Demand Video Games in France Internet Use Accross Europe Opportunities in the French Digital sector, 2007-2008 E-commerce and internet profiles: Comparing the UK, France and Germany ICT in France Accessing the internet by mobile phone in France Household Internet Use in France: Blogging and Streaming Online retailing in Europe: comparing the UK, France and Germany Online consumption in Germany

Internet Access for Lower-Income French Households

France sits on the European Average for computer use in the home, with just over 50% of French households owning a computer and internet access. The government’s ambition is to bring France to the top of the EU pile by raising the penetration rate to 63% within 3 years.

In 2004, it launched the “micro-portable for students” programme which allowed students to buy a portable computer with internet access for €1 a day. The success of the programme has encouraged the government to launch a “€1 a day all included” programme targeting lower-income households. The programme offers a “good quality” home computer with internet access negotiated at a discount rate (€15 per month maximum) as well as home installation and basic training services. The loan is fixed at €1 a day for three years. The government estimates the programme could affect between 1 and 1.5 million households.

• a quality label launched as of Jan 2007, to distinguish internet access providers and sites with high security levels
• opening an internet site (www.signal-spam.fr) to reinforce anti-junk/spam mail
• forming a working group with banks and on-line retail groups to improve on-line payment security

Rolling out high-speed internet access is of course a key ingredient. The government is adding €10m to help local rural communities finance ASDL installation. Today, high-speed internet access touches 7.84m homes throughout France (see table below). One of the government’s intended side-effects is to migrate much of the day-to-day administration on-line. This year, some 6 million households completed their tax review on line, up 2 million from last year. By the end of 2006, some two-thirds of French government forms should be available for completion on-line.

French Household Internet Access (source: Mediametrie)