With Malta’s broadband internet access prices having subdued consumer take-up of high speed internet access, the government yesterday launched a subsidisation scheme offering broadband internet access for €3 (Lm1.29) per month for a one-year time frame.

The scheme, which will work in collaboration 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, meaning if the target is reached the cost to the government would stand at €1,020,000 (Lm437,886). Access for households with disabled people, meanwhile, is to be offered free of charge.

Applications for the scheme, which will be available mainly for households that do not have a broadband subscription, are to be made available in the near future and households are expected to begin benefiting from the scheme by February.

Launching the Blue Skies initiative yesterday, Investment, Industry and Information Technology Minister Austin Gatt observed that if the 5,000 target is reached, it would place Malta alongside Scandinavia, Europe’s highest, in terms of broadband penetration.

While Malta broadband penetration rate currently stands at 54 per cent, while internet penetration is at 73 per cent, this, Dr Gatt said yesterday 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 had expired, Dr Gatt said, hopefully consumers would see the benefits of broadband connections and would choose to continue their subscriptions under normal terms, while internet service providers would also realise there is a market out there worth tapping, and respond by offering more attractive prices than those on the market at present.

For consumer’s monthly €3 subscription, they 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 would 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 in due course.