Going further to reduce the digital divide. State aid for individuals who do not have a sufficient internet connection, particularly in rural areas, will increase from 150 to 300 euros, in order to allow better access to wireless broadband, announced on Saturday February 5 , the Prime Minister, Jean Castex.
The Digital Territorial Cohesion scheme, launched in 2018, enabled households and businesses not covered by wired networks to switch to wireless broadband, thanks to aid for the cost of equipment, installation or commissioning up to 150 euros.
“The observation is that this amount is not sufficient to allow people to equip themselves. We therefore decided to go to 300 euros, even 600 euros”, according to resource criteria, said Jean Castex during a trip to Ariège alongside the Secretary of State for Digital, Cédric O.
This system will come into force in April, indicated the Prime Minister, after a visit to a fiber deployment site, in Moulin-Neuf, north-east of Foix. It is part of the France very high speed plan, which aims to cover the entire territory in very high speed (over 30 Mbits / s) by the end of 2022.
The UFC-Que Choisir association pointed out, in a study published at the end of January, that despite the 4G mobile network, 32% of consumers in rural areas are deprived of “good broadband”, i.e. an internet connection with a speed greater than 8 Mbits/s.