Free PC, Citroen not included.

Insomnia strikes again. At the bottom of my virtual desktop is the headline, "Free PC with every broadband connection!. It is 01:00 and not a pop up, I click on the slashdot link.

"Neuf Cegetel announced the purchase of AOL France, an ISP that counts 500.000 broadband subscribers and the arrival of 'the box,' an Internet access terminal. Code-name: Easy Gate. It's a computer, working under the Linux OS. It's a router. It's a DSL modem. It's also a telephone. All in one. Easy Gate will be available from November, the actual 'box' consists of: an Intel 852 GM, 6 ports USB 2.0, 512 Mb of RAM and 512 Mb of Flash memory."

What happened to the Le Car? Le Pharmacy? It is called "the box"!!

This week the French telephone company, Neuf Cegetel, announced the purchase of AOL France, an ISP that counts 500.000 broadband subscribers & the arrival of "the box", an Internet access terminal. Code-name: Easy Gate. It's a computer, working under the OS, Linux. It's a router. It's a DSL modem. It's also a telephone. All in one. Easy Gate will be available from November, the actual "box" consists of: an Intel 852 GM, 6 ports USB 2.0, 512 Mb of RAM and 512 Mb of Flash memory, for a guarantee of 150 euros & 39,95 euros per month. An extra100 euros buys a flat screen, webcam, keyboard & mouse.

With this service, Neuf Cegetel, busy preparing its introduction onto the the stock exchange in October, hopes to conquer new customers who still hesitate over using the Internet, discouraged by the complexity of computers.

There are 10.5 millions broadband users in France, an average figure in European terms, on the other hand France is lagging behind in actual PC's, with just over 50% of households equipped.

A spokesman for Neuf Cegetel stated: "After installation, the user has a broadband connection & the principle functions of a computer via a simplified, user-friendly interface, reducing the complexity of using a computer as an Internet tool".

I have seen this before. About 20+ years ago France's national telco offered terminals (Minitel)

We knew it was coming, but is this it? Free hardware.

The Quio9 url is an English posting. I check the root site http://quoi9.net/ to see if it is also posted in French. No post.

I locate the web site for Neuf Cegental and find this page regarding 9Office. There is a picture of a box that looks like a thin client. Maybe. Did AOL sell off its positon in France?

I drill down and find the press release that AOL has sold its French holding to Neuf Cegetel. This time I will follow what will happen to a French telco.

September 26 update. Here is a new link to "the box."

Until the next post,

Steve
to its subscribers. It was their version of CompuServe done government style.