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organic products to local communities and residents of the capital
through the use of mobile telecoms facilities set up by TSF.
ITU with Swisscom and the Government of Mali are connect-
ing a maximum number of schools in Mali to the Internet. One
of the aims is to provide disadvantaged young people (14–20
years) with an additional educational tool by deploying Internet
access to remote locations. Built on the Internet for Schools
project of Mali, similar projects are now being planned for other
countries.
WorldSpace and the Kenya Institute of Education are upgrad-
ing Kenya’s nationwide school broadcast service to broadcast
educational content to 11 million students in 18 000 primary
and 3 000 secondary schools. The aim is to improve the
teacher-student ratios from 1:100 to 1:60 and to close the
performance gap between public and private schools.
UNESCO has established Community Multimedia Centres
(CMC), which combine community radio by local people in
local languages with telecentre facilities (computers with
Internet and e-mail, phone, fax and photocopying). The radio
– which is low-cost and easy to operate – not only informs,
educates and entertains, it empowers the community. The CMC
offers a platform for social and economic development, combin-
ing traditional knowledge with the enormous reserve of
information on the Internet. UNESCO’s CMC pilot project has
developed 40 sites in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
With more partnerships announced at the World Summit on
the Information Society in Tunis, Connect the World will take
concrete steps in moving forward from a shared vision to imple-
menting the action lines enunciated by world leaders.
country code top-level domain names efficiently and transpar-
ently to help create a stronger African web presence.
Telefónica del Perú has an initiative underway to integrate
the country’s rural areas and provide better access to ICT and
international markets. Internet connection is established by
means of VSAT satellite terminals connected to indoor public
telephones. Public booths provide flat-rate Internet access, 24
hours a day and 365 days a year.
The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
is working with countries around the world to promote afford-
able access to high-speed Internet services in underserved, remote
and sparsely populated areas using satellite technology. The
project includes a USD1.5 million infrastructure component to
use existing excess satellite capacity and a USD23 million compo-
nent to establish a framework for the creation of a broadband
satellite market.
Alcatel is building partnership spaces in developing countries to
provide local entrepreneurs with the means to develop local ICT-
based services and implement pilot trials of those services in rural and
under served areas. For example, in Senegal, farmers can get real time
information on the price and arrival status of their products at market
using a GSMmobile, PDA or the Internet. Market information request
is entered on the farmer’s mobile device (PDA or phone) and sent
over the mobile network to a database designed by Alcatel’s local
partner, the requested data is then made available via Internet, WAP
or SMS. The service improves the quality of life of local farmers and
encourages operators to improve coverage in underserved areas.
In Nicaragua and Cambodia, Télécom Sans Frontières is helping
local NGOs located in isolated regions of the country to offer quality
Installing a new aerial telephone line at Ihosy
Photo: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)