My 2 pence worth as this thread has moved away from the benefits of this brilliant scheme;
I've spoken to parents, staff and pupils in the planning stages, roll out and deployment of this scheme and the response from those parents who you'd consider to be "less well-off" is overwhelming - effectively they can provide their kids with up to date and insured devices for a pretty small monthly fee without having to worry about what'll happen if it gets broken, or if it's compatible with the schools network etc
They're also keen on the fact that the devices will be fused into the curriculum to engage learning using technology. So the parents are pretty cool with it no matter what the background. After all they can keep the devices at the end.
The Edugate team are brilliant at removing brand snobbery from the equation too as devices are selected according to the ICT and SLT terms, mobile device management and deployment is covered in the planning stages of the scheme in order to select the most appropriate Windows / Android / Apple devices, network requirements etc - brilliant way to convince higher ups that it isn't all about iPads too..
Also any scheme that takes the burden of payment collection away from the school is a bonus, and this is one such project. Any scheme that can free up the ICT budget and put the onnus onto community led and parent funded digital learning is also a dream come true right?!