French drive to get low-income earners on Internet

PARIS, July 12 (Reuters) The French government has said it would offer low-income households a computer, home training and a high-speed Internet connection for one euro a day for three years to get them on the Web.

Around half of French households have a computer and in 2005 the 60 million-strong country counted 13.3 million Internet subscribers, the government said yesterday.

The scheme is aimed at pensioners and the unemployed to encourage them to fill out official forms such as income declarations on the Web and save the government money.

The government said 5.7 million had filled out their tax forms on the Internet this year.

The programme will open in the first quarter of 2007 under a public-private partnership contract.

Selected households will also be able to take out a loan, backed by the government, to finance the purchase of a computer and also have access to a cheap high-speed Internet connection.

France is one of the world's most competitive markets for high-speed Internet services. It was also one of the first in Europe to have commercially developed triple play -- the use of telephone lines for high-speed Internet access, television broadcasting and telephony.

REUTERS VA KP0845