With broadband internet access prices having restrained consumer take-up of high speed internet access, the government has announced the launch of a subsidisation scheme offering broadband internet access for just €3 (Lm1.29) per month for the first year.
The scheme, which will be operated in conjunction with a number of internet service providers, will see the government subsidising the cost of broadband access for households. With the average cost of an entry level broadband connection running at €20 (Lm8.59) per month, the government will be paying out €17 (Lm7.30) per month per household taking up the offer. The initiative will target 5,000 households, and if this target is reached the cost to the government will be €1,020,000 (Lm437,886). In addition, access for households with disabled people, is to be offered free of charge.
Applications for the scheme, which will be available primarily to households that do not have a broadband subscription, will be made available in the near future and households are expected to begin benefiting from the scheme by February.
Launching the Blue Skies initiative, Investment, Industry and Information Technology Minister, Austin Gatt, observed that if the target of 5,000 is reached, it would place Malta alongside Scandinavia, Europe’s highest, in terms of broadband penetration.
Malta’s broadband penetration rate currently stands at 54 per cent, while total internet penetration is 73 per cent, this, Dr Gatt said was “not enough” and that Malta’s goal was to become among the most connected countries in Europe.
While the digital divide in Malta was on the decrease, the divide is now being redefined as the gap between those who have broadband access and those who do not.
Speculating on why some households have in the past chosen not to take up broadband offers, Dr Gatt observed that the average €20 price for such connections was better spent by households on items such as meals out and white goods. The €3 per month offer, he said, would render broadband access far more attractive and feasible for such households.
Once the scheme’s one-year time frame has expired, Dr Gatt said, it is hoped that consumers will see the benefits of broadband connections and will choose to continue their subscriptions at the normal price, while internet service providers will also realise there is a market out there worth tapping, and respond by offering more attractive prices than those currently on offer.
For the monthly €3 subscription, customers will receive a standard entry level connection, with a two megabit speed and a three gigabyte download limit. Modems supplied will remain the property of the internet service provider and there will be no deposit on the modem.
The initiative follows consultations carried out with the National Information Society Advisory Council aimed at turning Malta into a ‘Smart Island’ by 2010.
A number of internet service providers are participating in the initiative and interested households will be able to select their provider of choice, these include Go, Melita Cable, Melitanet, Nextweb, Vodafone, Waldonet and Webwaves.
More details on eligibility and application procedures are to be released soon.