Intel inks pact with IL

Jaipur, July 20 (UNI) Intel Corporation, the world's biggest chipmaker, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Infrastructure Leasing&Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) to provide PC accessibility to over 1,00,000 Information and Communication technology-enabled common service centres (CSCs) reaching over 6,50,000 villages across the country.

Announcing this at a media conclave here, Intel Director (South Asia) Marketing John McClure said that these centres would come up within the next 12 months.

''Through this collaboration, Intel will provide access, connectivity, education and content under the World Ahead Programme (WAP) to thousands of villages across India to participate in India's socio-economic development through information and communications technologies (ICTs).'' Mr McClure said such a massive setting up of CSCs was a natural extension of the model centre Intel had setup in Baramati in Maharashtra and 5,000 such centres have already come up in the country.

The technology input cost of each centre would be around Rs 20,000, he said, adding that the CSC would enable people in rural areas to learn on computers and also help them in securing remedies to their agricultural problems through experts sitting in a distant place and also provide medical diagnostics.

It could also be used for entertainment purposes, he added.

These centres would be run by private entrepreneurs with standards set up IL&FS which is a national level service agency for such centres under the Union Ministry for Communication and Information Technology.

He said Intel would provide IL&FS education consultancy to identify relevant ICT enabled education programmes which could be offered to the rural community through the CSCs.

It would also provide Intel learn programme, project-based community development programme and also provide IL&FS consultancy services.

In addition, Intel would offer advisory services for wireless implementation towards a rural broadband programme as requisitioned by IL&FS.

Through world ahead programme Intel planned to extend access to PCs with highspeed Internet connections to millions of people and train one million teachers in India on the effective use of technology in classroom.

This, McClure said, was expected to touch more than 30 million students across the country by 2008.

UNI