Government to supply, subsidize PCs for students and teachers but with conditions CAIRO: Minister of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) Tariq Kamel Tarek Kamel signed off on two agreements with the Ministries of Education and Higher Education Saturday to make computers more affordable to students and teachers. Under the agreement, the government will purchase and subsidize computers for students and teachers that meet certain requirements and provide them with private sector outlets to complete financing of the systems. Kamel said MCIT aims to distribute 1 million computers in the next four years. The agreement, dubbed by MCIT as PC for Every Student and Teacher, is an extension of the PC for Every Home initiative launched by then-Minister of Communication and Information Technology MCIT Ahmed Nazif in 2002, which has proved largely ineffective. Although the Nazif initiative found success in doubling the number of households with computers, now up to an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 relative to 2002 figures, it fell far short of the MCIT s initial goal of reaching selling 7 million computers in the first seven years, or by 2009. Whereas the 2002 initiative relied primarily on the private sector for the distribution and financing of the systems, Kamel said the government will stay in firm control of the 2006 student-teacher initiative to ensure its success. Government interference in these initiatives is dependent on their success to ensure computers reach limited-income groups, said Kamel at the signing ceremony. It will ensure they reach those who deserve them the most and give these individuals the incentive to participate. As soon as those goals are reached, the government will take its hands off for market forces to take effect. Under the student-teacher initiative, college students will be entitled to discounted PCs upon completion of a computer training course and professors will receive the same benefit upon meeting standards set by MCIT to transform their curriculums into digital format. Telecom Egypt will provide 25 percent of the initial financing, while other lending institutions will take up the remaining 75 percent. The agreement does not specify the price of computer systems to be sold by the government, which critics of the 2002 initiative say was one of the main reasons behind the failure of the 2002 initiativeits failure. Launched in partnership with Microsoft Egypt, it offered computers to the public at prices ranging from LE 3,000 to LE 5,000, with up to 48 months of financing and monthly payments of less than LE 100. In August, MCIT re-launched the initiative complete with lower system prices and stricter guidelines on participating companies. The new program offered systems ranging from LE 1,585 to LE 3,300 and required companies to establish maintenance centers in at least seven governorates. Megacom CEO and IT cConsultant Tarek Thabet says the new PC for Every Home Initiative resolves some issues, but the bulk remains. Complicated financing procedures, in addition to the continued high cost of the systems relative to the average low-income household s capabilities will continue to plague the initiative if they are not addressed by the government. If you really want to increase computer sales, you should support the user in purchasing rather than supporting the supplier, says Thabet. It s not about computer experts giving us their opinion, says remarks Thabet. It s about the beneficiary giving us their opinion, because that s what matters. According to TE Data, computer penetration reached just 1.5 percent in Egypt in 2004. Internet penetration stood at less than 10 percent.
