All Hungarian households will have access to the internet within the next ten years, IT Minister Kálmán Kovács said on Friday. The broadband network will reach 2,530 localities by the end of the year, and cover all the 3,200 towns and villages of the country by late 2007, the minister told a news conference. All Hungarian schools and 40% of households currently have a computer, and 20% of homes have an access to the internet. The spread of internet was encouraged by a 50% cut in subscription rates over the past three years, the minister said.
The ambitious “internet to all” ten-year program is expected to cost Ft 1 trillion, or €4 billion, and will be partly financed from the development funds of the European Union, Kovács said. Up until late 2007 the government plans to spend Ft 350 billion, or €1.4 billion, on implementing its broadband development strategy, he said.