It is an excellent idea and one that is worth following closely. It will be very interesting to see both how the offer of 'free' basic broadband services drives digital inclusion (remember just having access to broadband doesn't imply inclusion... usage of that service is inclusion) and how the higher speed services are taken. There must be a fear that everyone will take the free package so I would suggest that the higher speed packages should have some service bundles as well in order to drive uptake and therefore revenue.
This is also a concept we should think about for the UK. If it is the aim of the government to drive digital inclusion for all and to start that initiative at the poorer end of society then let's do so with projects that do not exclude others who want involvement. After all we have to consider how these services are best used - do we expect those who choose not to use the Internet today to suddenly become society's next entrepreneurs? Of course not but those who have some access to the Internet, perhaps at a lower speed than they would like as they wish to become more digitially productive, should not suffer because we are trying to ensure that everyone has basic access.
Can a network be built that offers the best of both worlds? May be the efforts in North France will show us, or perhaps we should take the initiative and roll the dice ourselves. Digital inclusion is an excellent concept as long as it does not disadvantage those who would best use it.
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