Independent News and Media, and its Internet service provider (ISP) company, Internet Ireland, have announced a £2 million (€2.5 million) deal with a French company, NetGem, for the provision of digital set top boxes. These will give subscribers Internet access through their televisions.

Independent will distribute the boxes through Internet Ireland's newly launched portal site. It intends to harness the customer base already provided by Princes Holdings' 230,000 cable television subscribers. Independent holds a 50 per cent stake in Princes Holdings, with Liberty Media owning the remainder.

Under the deal, an initial £2 million of set top boxes will be distributed free from next week. While the new ISP hopes to attract at least 60,000 subscribers by the end of this year, the initial distribution will be to around 10,000 subscribers.

The new ISP, to be introduced officially tomorrow, intends to provide free Internet access, free e-mail, online shopping and news.

At the announcement, Mr Michael Branigan, managing director of Internet Ireland, said: "This deal with NetGem provides a more attractive option for Internet access for the hundreds of thousands of Irish consumers, who will no longer require an expensive and complex PC and modem, but simply our own dedicated digital set top boxes for their existing TV."

Internet Ireland's target market will be the domestic consumer, based outside of Dublin and coming mainly from Princes Holdings' cable network. The NetGem deal is the first major outlay of the £12 million Independent says it plans to invest in the ISP.

The new Internet platform will source most of its content from its 14 Irish publications and its international newspaper and magazine titles.