Intel will provide equipment under the
program as well as teacher training.
The program will also let the company lay some of the
groundwork for future sales as the markets in these nations
mature. Intel, after all, entered China back in the 1980s
and was able to capitalize on the growth of the tech
industry in that country.
WiMax--the long-range wireless networking standard heavily
promoted by Intel--will figure prominently in the program.
Overall, Intel is involved in 175 WiMax trials worldwide, a
representative said.
PCs, naturally, will also play a big part. The company is
currently working on six different PCs that will come out
during the next six years tuned for various geographies.
Intel has already come out with a few PCs and software
applications tailored for particular geographies. A PC for
India unveiled last year, for instance, comes in a sealed
case to keep out dust and runs off a car battery, important
in a country where blackouts are a daily occurrence.
Meanwhile, in China, Intel devised software to let managers
of Internet cafes control their PCs easier.
Paul Otellini, the company's CEO, is expected to sketch out
the program further in a speech at the World Congress of IT,
a biennial event taking place this week in Austin, Texas.
Various companies and academics have put forth plans for
bridging the digital divide. The ideas can roughly be broken
down into four categories: more-rugged PCs promoted by Intel
and Via Technologies; a cell phone that can be hooked into a
phone or monitor, promoted by Microsoft; thin clients,
touted by companies in India; and inexpensive devices that
are similar to PCs. This is the so-called $100 laptop from
MIT's Nicholas Negroponte.
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