3rd Phase National PC initiative (NPC) launched

• ITA to continue to distribute PCs and tablet devices to beneficiary categories in NPC third phase
• NPC Telecommunications Partner Omantel to offer internet packages to NPC beneficiaries
• Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi: “NPC initiative distributed more than 70,000 PCs and provided IT training to more than 6,000 beneficiaries, elevating the Sultanate’s rank in international IT reports.”
• Hamdan Mousa Al Harrasi: “More than 50,000 people have benefited from Omantel’s NPC-related offers with one free subscription and modem connection for a period from 3 months to one year.”

The Information Technology Authority (ITA) in partnership with Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) launched the third phase of the National PC Initiative (NPC). The Initiative consists of allocating one free laptop for each beneficiary family of the social insurance that has at least one child or more registered in the K-12 school system, as well as granting one free personal computer per student in these families who are presently enrolled in higher education studies. The grant also includes a subsidization of the cost of a personal computer for students of higher education enrolled in the first year of study in the Sultanate, in addition to teachers who are graduates of the Government IT Training & Certification (GITTC) project.

Internet Offers

Omantel’s offers to the beneficiary families of the social insurance includes the provision of a free-of-charge modem with exemption from the connection and monthly subscription fees, with 1 GB of free downloads per month, for one year with the choice of either home ADSL or broadband mobile packages.

The offer presented to the category of teachers and higher education students includes two packages. The first option is the home ADSL package, which consists of a free Wi-Fi modem or a fixed line subscription for one year, with 1 GB of free downloads per month, and 75 minutes of free mobile calls with a speed of 2MB for the first three months, followed by a 50% discount on the subscription fees during the remaining nine months of the year. The second option is the broadband mobile package, which consists of a new SIM card with a free modem and free activation, in addition to various options offered to users according to their personal requirement for daily, weekly or monthly packages at the prevailing purchase cost.

International Progress

Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, the Chief Executive Officer of ITA stated: “We are happy to see the NPC initiative reaching its third phase. Since the beginning of its first phase in January 2011, the NPC has been contributing to enhancing citizens’ modern IT capabilities and skills; hence transforming the Omani society into a knowledge-based digital society. The NPC has also helped increase the number of PC and internet users among the members of the Omani society, encouraging them to communicate via the internet, obtain information and services online and stay up-to-date on everything.

“The NPC has also contributed to placing the Sultanate in better ranks in the international IT reports, whereas according to the World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report with regard to NRI’s sub-index of Individual Readiness of IT, Oman has been elevated to position 40th in 2011. Compared to the 2010 ranking of 87th place, it has jumped a remarkable 47 points,” Al Ruzaiqi added.

Numbers and Beneficiaries

Al Ruzaiqi pointed out that the NPC initiative has, since its start, distributed more than 70,000 PC and 50,000 modems. It has also provided training during its first two phases to 6,000 people from the beneficiary families of the social insurance targeted by the NPC, giving them the opportunity to undergo training at specialized training institutes with which ITA has contracted in order to train the beneficiary members of these families.

Personalized Options

Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi said: “ITA will continue to distribute PCs to the NPC beneficiaries and will also enable the category of teachers and students of higher education enrolled in the first year of study to choose between PCs and tablet devices. NPC beneficiaries will be able to select between a PC or a tablet device from the NPC list of approved devices, according to the field of interest and use of each beneficiary.”

NPC Initiative Website

Al Ruzaiqi added: “An HTML link has been allocated for the NPC on ITA website www.ita.gov.om/npc. The website link displays the points of distribution, eligible beneficiaries, FAQs, and brands of devices available as well as other important information.”

Telecommunications Partner Supporting the Initiative

In his statement on the launch of the third phase, Hamdan Moussa Al Harrasi, Senior Manager of Social Responsibility and Events at Omantel, said: “We are very happy to launch the third phase of the National PC Initiative following our successful partnership with ITA in the first and second phases of the Initiative, since its launch in January 2011. Through this partnership Omantel, once again the official telecommunications partner of this Initiative, seeks to enable the beneficiary citizens of the Initiative to use PCs and the internet and gain knowledge and skills, as a way to contribute to the government efforts to transform the Omani society into a digital society. This will undoubtedly help promote the Sultanate’s presence among the countries with high percentages of internet users.”

Social Responsibility

Al Harrasi also added: “The Initiative has been well received since its start, where tens of thousands of people have benefited in particular from the packages offered to the NPC targeted categories. The Initiative falls within the Company’s social responsibility commitments, being the biggest social investment project that the Company has ever undertaken. We are happy that more than 50,000 people from all the Omani governorates have benefited from Omantel packages offered within the NPC first and second phases. The Company is ready to receive the applications of the beneficiaries of the Initiative through its outlets across the various governorates of the Sultanate.”