After distributing 87,000 PCs .. ITA & Omantel continue NPCI 3rd phase
Information Technology Authority (ITA) and Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) continue the third phase of the National PC Initiative (NPCI) distribution of personal computers and tablet devices for the beneficiary categories. The initiative grants a free laptop to the school students and higher education students of the social insurance families, as well as subsidizing the cost of a personal computer for school teachers, who have graduated from the (Government IT Training & Certification (GITTC) project), and first-year students enrolled in various higher education institutions within the Sultanate. More than 16,000 computers and 9,000 modems have been distributed by the beginning of the third phase, which has started in October, 2012.
Mr. Hassan bin Fida Al Lawati, NPCI Manager, commenting on the initiative impacts on the society said: “Since its launch in January 2011, the initiative contributes to strengthening the capabilities skills of citizens in dealing with modern technologies, and thereby help in transforming the Omani society to a knowledge-based society. The initiative has distributed, since its launch and until now, more than 87,000 computers and more than 57,000 modems, provided by Omantel.
” The initiative’s package provided includes a training offer for the students of the social insurance families and in this regard, Hassan added: “In the first and second phases, more than 6,000 people from the beneficiaries of the social insurance families’ category have been trained in cooperation with some local training institutes and specialized body. All the information on the distribution outlets, the beneficiaries, PCs options and the most frequent questions are available in the NPCI web link www.ita.gov.om/npc.”
Speaking on Omantel support to the initiative, Mr. Aladdin Abdullah Baitfadhil, Senior Manager Direct Sales in Consumer Unit – Omantel, said: “Through our partnership, as communications partner, with ITA, Omantel seeks to add a real value to the initiative beneficiaries through the offers provided to them. Omantel offers the social insurance beneficiaries’ category a free modem with exemption from connection fees and monthly rental fee, and a free download of 1 GB/month for a full year for both home and mobile internet. The package also includes two special offers to teachers’ and higher education students’ categories. The first offer is Internet service ADSL that includes a wireless modem, free rent fixed line for a full year with free download 1 GB/month and 75 minutes free call fixed-line and at speeds of up to (2 MB) for the first three months; followed by a 50% reduction on the subscription for the nine months remaining in the year. The second offer new SIM card with modem and free activation; besides a wide range of options to use daily, weekly, or monthly packages in the of prevailing purchasing cost.”
Aladdin emphasized the initiative importance in supporting e.oman vision to transform the Sultanate to a knowledge-based society, saying: “The initiative achieved a high demand since the launch of the third phase due to the expanded coverage for 3G network which provide high-speed internet service offered by Omantel. Undoubtedly, this enables the initiative beneficiaries to use mobile Internet outside the home, in addition to ADSL Internet which gives them a better experience in using Internet services.”