Teléfonos de Mexico and Aguascalientes State Government, through the DIF, signed this week a cooperation agreement for the adjustment of 44 public telephone of the company, in order that those can be used by people with mobility disabilities.

The agreement was signed in the Auditorium of Medical Services of the DIF, where have been present the Governor of the State of Aguascalientes (Mr. Carlos Lozano de la Torre), President of the DIF Aguascalientes (Prof. Blanca Lozano Rivera Rio), General Director of the DIF (Dra. Gabriela Ibeth Navarro Díaz de León), Dr. Eduardo Lenin Ruelas Olvera (Director of Medical Services of the DIF), Mr. Miguel Macias Viveros (Director of Teléfonos de México), and Mr. Raul Dominguez Cerón, (Chief Operating Officer of Telmex Foundation).

The 44 phones whose dimensions were modified to meet the needs of disabled people, are distributed in ten counties of the State, which will bring better communication services for people from Aguascalientes, that represents a significant advance in the use of public telecommunications services.

In her speech, the President of the DIF, Prof. Blanca Lozano Rivera Rio said: "I am very happy because we could accomplished with these dreams and these goals that we have set, but this would not be possible if we did not find this support, the Foundation Telmex. Our sincere thanks for their managers, in us you will always find faithful allies, faithful partners and friends, thanks for helping to bring joy to these families".

In his message, the Divisional Director of Telmex (Mr. Macias Viveros) said: "Telmex has been recognized for nine consecutive years (2002-2010) with the Socially Responsible Company Badge, awarded by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (Cemefi). Therefore, our company has joined immediately to the attention of the authorities' request of the State of Aguascalientes in the support of people with mobility disabilities or small people".

The county distribution of the 44 phones is as follows. In Aguascalientes 23, Asientos 1, Calvillo 6, Cosio 1, El Llano 1, Jesus Maria 5, Pabellón de Arteaga 2, Rincón de Romos 2, San Francisco de los Romo 2 and San José de Gracia 1.

(Source: Telmex – México)
Further details

At least 600 000 households in Peru would acquire a new computer this year due to increased purchasing power of the population and the strong adoption of the technology in the local market, estimates the chip manufacturer Intel.

The marketing manager for Intel's North Cone, Carlos Garcés, said that up to date the residential segment constitutes 60 percent of consumption of computers, followed by the corporate segment.

"Currently, 12 of every 100 Peruvians are renewing or buying their first computer annually, and the trend for the next years is that this number will increase strongly", told Andina. He said Peru's consumers are in a strong tendency for technological upgrading, which has made the local market very dynamic.

"In 2011, Peru will overtake the million PCs sold annually, which is very significant because it implies a significant growth rate”. He said that among the factors that will drive the sales this year is the economic stability, as well as the most affordable prices. "In addition, Peru since a long time has a very large internet culture phenomenon through its public “internet Coffees” (Cabinas de Internet), and that is capitalizing now because people are already familiar with the web and it makes very easy to buy a computer.

Garcés noted that in other countries, where they have not had an Internet penetration as agile as in Peru, the barrier to buying a computer is bigger.

(Source: Andina, Agencia de Noticias)
Further details

Through the services of Global Crossing, “RedCLARA” connects more than 700 universities in Latin America with institutions around the world.

Global Crossing, a leading global IP solutions provider, announced today that “RedCLARA”, an academic consortium dedicated to research and education in Latin America, has signed a three-years contract to implement connectivity services between Sao Paulo, Brazil and Madrid, Spain. This solution expands the current relationship between the two companies - which includes the placement service in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela - enabling “RedCLARA” connect its network of more than 700 universities and research institutions in Latin America with more than 3,500 academic institutions throughout Europe and around the world.

RedCLARA (Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks) is an international non-profit institution that connects academic networks in Latin America. In addition to provide the services and international links, Global Crossing will provide the International Private Line direct channel service, high-capacity, fully redundant between Sao Paulo and Madrid, supporting academic users at universities, observatories and centers study in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

"Thanks to shuttle high-speed transatlantic of Global Crossing, “RedCLARA” acquires a high capacity solution, reliability and security to provide to our users, with greater efficiency, an optimal network performance”, said Florencio Utreras, executive director of CLARA.

"Global Crossing's proposal emphasized the differentiating factors of our global connectivity and customer focus, with a competitive and challenging selection process", said Gabriel Holgado, vice president senior of Carrier Services for Global Crossing Latin America and Caribbean.

"Our extensive research and our understanding of the needs of “RedCLARA” users were important to developing a more competitive offer", concluded Holgado.

(Source: AHCIET)
Further details

"After the program fully materialized, Ecuador is not the same, because they take into account the areas that are distant from urban centers, or that ones that for decades have been isolated, which will be now connected via the Internet", said the Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society, Jaime Guerrero Ruiz, in announcing the award of a contract for about US$ 13.5 million, money that was obtained from the own funds of private operators in their contribution to FODETEL.

"This is all part of an ambitious plan, in which we want people, who have never had the opportunity to access services, forming part of what we call the Technological Revolution or the elimination of digital illiteracy" said Guerrero, after to highlight the contract awarded to a private operator which won a competition that began on last December at the portal of the National Institute for Public Procurement, INCOP.

The Secretary of State said they were satisfied to advance on this fact, which called it a "revolutionary" and explained that by bidding for goods and services, published in the Public Procurement portal, the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society awarded the contract for an amount of US$ 13,499,800.93 to Telconet company.

The aim is to install and provide the Internet access services, provide telephone technical support and training in the use of the service to 947 schools and 26 social development organizations in the following provinces: Bolívar (30 sites), Cañar (27 sites), Chimborazo (31 sites), Cotopaxi (72 sites), El Oro (93 sites), Esmeraldas (16 sites), Guayas (102 sites), Imbabura (45 sites), Loja (100 sites), Los Ríos (82 sites), Manabí (103 sites), Morona Santiago (40 sites), Napo (37 sites), Pastaza (12 sites), Pichincha (11 sites), Santa Elena (86 sites), Santo Domingo (11 sites), Zamora Chichipe (19 sites), Tungurahua (48 sites), Azuay (2 sites), Orellana (5 sites), Sucumbíos (1 site).

It is important to mention that, all the sites chosen are rural parishes, precincts, and marginal urban communities across the country.

(Source: Mintel – Ecuador)
Further details

The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade and the Ministry of Education have signed a collaboration agreement in order to further promote the consolidation of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the Spanish educational system.

The document envisages the development of actions within the Program “escuela 2.0” and into the Action plan of the Digital public service in education of the project “Avanza 2”. Territorial cohesion, the importance of joining efforts in the implementation of joint projects among all the Autonomous Communities, in particular the development of educational content, and design new business models to support the development of Spanish industry technologically education are some of the principles underlying the actions of the convention.

Among the activities planned include promoting development of educational digital content and services; the revitalization and expansion of the use of ICT tools in the educational community, and the digital classroom equipment in the Autonomous Communities which receive the fund FEDER, aimed at priority developing communities’,  among others. These initiatives will help to increase the development of digital public services of the Spanish educational system.

The agreement foresees an investment of about EUR 13 million a year. From this amount, 8.3 million euros is provided by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, through the public company red.es, and 4.6 million by the Ministry of Education. Participation of the Autonomous Communities will be organized through the signing of a trilateral agreement between the Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Industry, through red.es.

Project “Agrega”
Among actions in the field of educational content is the development and evolution of the Project “Agrega”; which is a useful tool to integrate ICT in the classroom, offering teachers, students and families sharing a common environment for educational digital content and applications.

Aula Digital
In the field of infrastructure, the agreement includes the provision of specific equipment in public schools where there are students enrolled from fifth grade of primary to Secondary second degree in those Autonomous Communities receiving the fund FEDER.

About Plan “Avanza 2”
The Plan “Avanza” Strategy for 2011-2015 seeks to place Spain in a position of leadership in the development and use of advanced ICT products and services, contributing to the success of a model of economic growth based on increased competitiveness and productivity, promoting social and regional equality and improving the welfare and quality of life of citizens.

About Project “Escuela 2.0”
The integration of Information and Communication Technologies in schools is the main objective of the Project “Escuela 2.0”, which is operational in our country since 2009.

(Source: Red. Es)
Further details

Cuba is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that is not connected to the rest of the world with fiber optic cables. Instead, they use satellite communications which is slow and costly, especially for Europe.

A specialized ship arrived in Venezuela with sufficient fiber on board to connect the South American country with Cuba and soon will begin laying the cable on the seabed, with this they expected to improve the dramatic telephone and Internet service situation for Cubans. The French ship “Ile de Batz” is anchored on the Venezuelan coast since Sunday and is ready to begin the task in the coming days, said Jose Ignacio Quintero, manager of the company's solutions by the French Alcatel-Lucent. The boat brought the fiber optic cable from the French port of Calais. Quintero said on Tuesday that the Cable of more than 1,600 miles must be running in July and will go from Camurí in Venezuela to Siboney in Cuba.

Escuchar

Leer fonéticamente

 

Diccionario - Ver diccionario detallado

 Cuba is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that is not connected to the rest of the world with fiber optic cables. Instead, they use satellite communications, which is slow and costly, especially in Europe. Also, due to the U.S. trade restrictions against Cuba, companies from other countries avoid doing business with Cuba.

 Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, said that he plans to be there to inaugurate the project, one more of many joint efforts of the two countries. The cable is called "ALBA 1", referring to the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of America, comprising Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Cuban officials have said that the project will cost about US$ 70 million. Quintero declined to comment on the cost of the project.

After the cable comes to Cuba, an extension will also connect to the neighboring Jamaica, about 245 km, making the total distance of the two segments about 1,800 kilometers. The cable will has as a starting point a crossroads of other international telecom cables, including one that stretches from Brazil to Florida, said Quintero. Alcatel-Lucent, which has experience in installing similar lines in many parts of the world, affix the fiber optic cable in various fields, such as the Cuban coast area descending to a depth of about 19,000 feet (5,800 meters), said the manager.

Quintero reported that the ship has a robot submarine that will facilitate the monitoring of operations. The cable will have a capacity of about 80 million simultaneous phone calls, although some of that bandwidth will serve the internet, he said. After connecting users can "have an international call access" to or from Cuba "without waiting online", said Quintero.

(Source: El Nacional Newspaper)
Further details

Event brings together technology enthusiasts to join in projects and online games, plus workshops and lectures. The latest technologies and digital content reach the fourth edition of Campus Party Brasil, which opened today in Sao Paulo for the 6,800 participants registered for the event until Sunday to immerse them in the forefront of binary code.

Campus Party Brasil, held in the Exhibition Centre of Immigrantes of Sao Paulo, has in this edition prominent figures like  the ex-president of USA Al Gore, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and the creator of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee, according to organizers.

The participants, of which nearly 80% are under 30 years old, will have a 10 Gig network speed and a busy schedule with 400 activities, 400 hours of content and 317 projects. The meeting will have visitors from different parts of the Brazilian geography, and other countries in the Americas and Europe.

The discussion topics will be distributed in four areas of knowledge: science, creativity, digital entertainment and innovation. The appointment is also a good place to promote the latest technological innovations of enterprises in the sector and for responsible companies to find new talent.

The Campus Party, which was first held in 1997 in Spain, has also editions in Colombia and Mexico.

(Source: La Tercera News paper)
Further details

The Galapagos Islands, has lived almost a party atmosphere and high expectation, as it is the first time that all the piers of the islands have free Internet access, which is considered the beginning of a new era in insular life, as in the walls, on benches, sidewalks, etc., you can watch tourists and locals surfing on the information superhighway. No longer be connected in a closed place, now you can maintain such direct contact with nature, look at all the beauty offered by the ocean, watching the flight of the frigates, finches, pelicans taking a sand bath.

The main event was held in Santa Cruz, in public School  "Galo Plaza Lasso", later the authorities made a visit to the National School "Miguel Angel Casares' and National College "Galapagos" and finally at 16:30 the system was inaugurated WI -FI wireless on the pier in “Puerto Baquerizo Moreno”, San Cristobal. On Friday, they will visit the School Fiscomisional "Pedro Pablo Andrade", where it will be also delivered equipment and connectivity.

With the supply of equipment, local connectivity and Internet access 31 schools will be benefit, spread over the following islands: Santa Cruz (16), San Cristóbal (nine), Isabela (five) and Floreana (one). The direct beneficiaries are 5631 students and 445 teachers. Also, 20 public institutions such as airports, municipalities, Governing Council, Police, National Park, Navy, among others, benefiting 1495 users. The equipments were awarded as follows: seven in Santa Cruz, seven in San Cristobal, four in Isabela, one on Floreana and one on Baltra.

Also seven health centers were benefited from facilities: three in St. Cristobal, two in Santa Cruz, one in Isabela and another one on Floreana. In addition there are available 19 Wi-Fi areas with free access, seven in San Cristobal, nine in Santa Cruz, two in Isabela and one on Floreana, benefiting in total 24,366 people in the province, as well as domestic and foreign tourists.

The total investment in the first phase of the project was US$ 912,607.85. It is important to mention that  Mintel plans to develop a second phase to expand the network and provide connectivity to 23 public institutions and three social organizations.

The institutions that participated actively in the implementation of the connectivity project were: the Council of Provincial Government of Galapagos, the Ministry of Education, the National Telecommunications Corporation and the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society.

The Mintel provided the equipment and the National Telecommunications Corporation, CNT EP, coordinated the installation of connectivity. The equipment delivered by the Mintel consisted on: 87 computers, 23 printers, and 11 projectors, 11 whiteboards, as well as adequate laboratories (wireless and data network), control, broadcast and Internet.

Source: Mintel - Ecuador
Further details

The company Telefónica extends to SMEs the benefits of Collaborative mail, an Exchange-technology based service that allows them to access various features, including mobility, integrated messaging and collaboration tools, demand and managed service mode from the Internet.

Through the Collaborative mail, SMEs can access advanced communication options, high flexibility, security and service quality, optimizing costs and infrastructure investment. The service comes to SMEs under the “cloud computing” model, which is consolidated in the market as a more efficient way to manage the operation of the business sector making available the same quality of software to large corporations accessing without needing to engage in major infrastructure developments.

This new service, presented by the area of the company that focuses on adding value to the SME community, provides them with a high storage capacity per cell, shared calendar, address book and the possibility of integration with mobile devices, among other facilities.

Collaborative mail is based on a converged technology platform hosted in the Data Center of the company, in an environment that meets all standards of information security and redundancy of systems. The service allows access from mobile devices, where the customer can also manage email, calendar, calendar and other tools, allowing integration of all applications.

The solution includes generic profiles adapted to the reality of each company as their storage needs and capabilities. Thus, SMEs can manage the number and size of their mailboxes, which have a storage capacity of 100 MB to 5 GB, and increase or decrease the number and type of boxes.

Collaborative mail allows for backup and backup information in case of contingency, which guarantees the quality of service provided to its customers. It also has 24 hour support, 365 days a year. The service is part of a range of solutions that Telefónica offers to SMEs from the “cloud”, providing access to the latest technologies in service mode and no hardware investment.

(Source: Telefónica de Argentina)
Further details

The initial goal is to free the 450 MHz spectrum to provide 3G internet inside the country. Within the framework of the objectives of the National Broadband Plan, the Ministry of Communications intends to use the 450 MHz band to bring 3G telephony, which allows data traffic at high speed to rural and remote areas of the country.

As the frequency of 450 MHz is used by the Federal Police, the negotiations with the Ministry of Justice will permit the release of this range of services and migration to a new frequency. Therefore, the Federal Budget will provide US$ 70 million to be used in the adaptation of the equipments.
 
"The Communications Minister will propose to the Minister of Justice to release this range of the spectrum at late this year or early next year, to start the public consultation of the offering, so it could become operational by mid-2012 - executive secretary said Cesar Alvarez.

The Secretary listed the advantages of using 450 MHz frequency, allowing greater range, fewer towers and therefore lower cost. He adds that the range for which the Federal Police will migrate, will allow operation of the frequency of world standard, which means access to the most advanced technology and ease of working together with police from other countries.

Read here the interview to Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, Cezar Alvarez.

(Source: Ministério das Comunicações, Brazil - Minicom)

Further details

The president of the foundation “Infocenter”, Nancy Zambrano explained that “Infocenters” program offered the tools to communities to take by themselves the technology and develop tools for their own benefit, as the development of digital community newspapers

Infocenter Foundation received the award “Rey Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa” last Wednesday, a recognition of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(Unesco), for its work in mass of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education, sectors traditionally excluded.

The foundation president, Nancy Zambrano, held the award and emphasized that it constitutes a recognition of the quality of education in technology that characterizes the Infocenters and has allowed that more than one million people aware the information technologies."This award recognizes the quality of education in the technology that we give to our people and in particular, recognition of the training process in the use of technology by older adults", she said.

Also, Zambrano said that the award given by UNESCO to Infocenters reflects the success of the government policies to popularize the knowledge and use of new technologies among underserved populations, such as National Program for Technological Literacy (Pnat), spanning more than a million people trained in the country.

And thanks to policies of mass education, it was possible that in 2010 there were a total of 10,971,345 visits to Infocenters throughout the national territory, which completely removed the idea of the restriction in internet imposed by the Government. "What we are doing is expanding the possibilities of the internet to our people, previously excluded, and that is something that the experience of Infocenters offers", she said.

The award King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa was given in Paris. The work of Infocentre in the expansion of new technologies impressed to the jury as all those was attending the ceremony, who praised the structure and the massive scope that has had the technological literacy.

(Source: CanTV – Venezuela)
Further details

San Luis de Tacshacuraray is one of the 3,852 isolated communities of Peru where satellite stations of Internet and public telephone have been installed. This is its story: His name is Riter Papa Tote, he is the son of Ecuadorian who arrived to San Luis de Tacshacuraray, traveling the Napo River, he is 29 years old, and have two children. His main economical activity is the agriculture and is learning computer by his wife. "I know how to turn on and off the computer and use the mouse, but my wife wants me to learn the Internet”, he says. She sells beauty products and insists me to learn how to use the Internet because I could ask the cosmetics without having to go to Iquitos on a winding boat trip that takes about one day.

San Luis de Tacshacuraray is located on the banks of the Napo River. As 95% of the population of Napo, Tacshacuraray has not access to drinking water or sewage, and electricity is reduced to three hours from a generator.

On May 22 was settled one of the 3,852 satellite stations that will provide Internet and telephone services to the most isolated communities in the country as part of Satellite Broadband Program (BAS), which is a project of US$ 48 million funded by Fitel (Telecommunication Investment Found) and the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC). This initiative is developed by Telefónica del Perú.

The telephone and Internet access in Tacshacuraray - which works entirely with solar panels - were installed in the house of Artidoro Ramirez, the owner of a small shop that has already invested in the purchase of three computers connected to the network for rent: "I think that children will benefit most because now they are able to investigate their work online”, he says.

Guillermo Robles, head of satellite engineering of Telefónica del Perú, explains the process of implementing the project: "The US$ 48 million includes the installation of infrastructure and two years of service. After this time the entrepreneur, whose home was where installed the system, will be who assume such a task".

One of the conditions stipulated by Fitel for this project was to ensure the training of at least 15% of the target population. The institutions responsible for this free training, where Pope Tote Riter is learning now, are Inictel and “NGOs Ideas”.

Aurelio Vargas, Inictel trainer in Tacshacuraray, said that adults are who more seriously are taking the classes, but they are also the most delayed in learning. "Unlike children, who learn very quickly" the teacher says. Also he has seen to Ruben Omaeche (12 years old) as the sensation in the class. Ruben learned from what they know in their classrooms, from the “Huascaran Project”. Everything was fine until something went wrong in the system and never repaired. There is more than four years that they do not know anything about that project in this area, they said.

"That kid knows a lot, I wish I also learn like him, and my wife would not have to travel to Iquitos, "says an optimistic Riter Papa Tote.

(Source: El Comercio Newspaper)
Further details

Telefónica announced the eleventh edition of the Information Society Report in Spain for 2010, which had the presence of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Miguel Sebastian, who has chaired the event, and Cesar Alierta, president of the Company and Javier Nadal, vice president of “Fundación Telefónica”.

During 2010, one of the assets that define the evolution and consolidation of the Information Society in Spain is that the more mature segments of the population have taken over from the growth in digitization and Internet activities using rates of growth well above average in the last two years. According to data collected by Telefónica, during the last two years, the level of digitization of content and activities in digital has grown to a greater extent among those belonging to the mature segments (between 45 and 64 years) than the mean population. For example, in using Internet for banking, while the average stagnates, grew 4% among users of 45 and 54 years old.

This new approach of more mature age people to the use the ICT demonstrates that the process of digitalization of society is entering to more mature stage in which citizens are increasingly aware of the usefulness of these services in their daily activities, so the age gap tends to vanish. This fact is important because it gives greater weight to the mature sector within the population pyramid and being a segment with greater purchasing power than the average, which may make this group as the engine of growth Information Society in the next decade.

The increase in using Internet by mature people as well as the high participation of young people has led to reach nearly 27 million users by the Internet community in our country. From that total, 69.2% access the web daily, 13.3% more than last year which is indicating that nearly 15 million people use intensive, daily Internet.

Concerning to the evolution of access technologies, the demand for broadband in Spain continues to grow. During 2010 there was more than 10 million fixed broadband lines having experienced a growth of 8.3% in the last year.  From those ten million visits, 80% are supported by technology ADSL, followed by cable with 19%.

In Spain, moreover, there are nine million households with Internet access, representing an increase of more than 700,000 households last year. From these, more than eight million eight hundred thousand homes have broadband connections, representing a growth of more than 900,000 accesses from 2009.

(Source: Telefónica de España)
Further details

Government authorized the acquisition of 500,000 new computers and installs the “Canaima” computer assembly factory in Venezuela at the end of the first half of 2011.

This Sunday, the President of the Republic, Hugo Chávez Frías, authorized the acquisition of 500,000 new laptops “Canaima” from the Government of Portugal, to begin delivery to students attending classes at the third grade.

The computers will be awarded from next September, said the president "We'll have millions and millions of computers”, said Chavez, commenting that install the “Canaima” computer assembly factory in Venezuela at the end of the first half of 2011.

President Chávez said that they hope to conclude this year and children whom are attending classes at the second grade in public schools will have in their hands their computer to start in September the delivery to the next grade.

He explained that it is not giving computers as a gift, but to equip children to get better tools and to optimize their learning. Touring the schools, Chavez said that 875,000 “Canaima” computers have been already imported and has delivered more than half, while the rest is under system programming.

(Source: CANTV - Venezuela)
Further details

In three main squares in the province of Córdoba (Argentina) is possible to use free internet. If you have any of these devices: cell phone, notebook, netbook or tablet (Apparatus for about 12.5 inch touch screen used to surf into the Web), you can access to the service, although navigation is restricted in some aspects. You can visit news sites, social networks and control webmail mailboxes.

The limitation of the service is for accessing to pages and download music and video files as well as to pages with pornographic content. Daniel Pastorino, assistant of the Secretary of Informatics and Telecommunications of the province, said that the browsing speed will range between 90 and 120 kilobytes per second, depending on the number of people connected.

Wi-Fi network will be commanded by an intelligent central node, which will manage the users’ connection, distributing it to those with more bandwidth available.

"It is necessary to clarify that this service does not compete with home broadband but yes it is complementary", said Pastorino, to differentiate it from the paid net. "The network is secure, filtered and free. It is for people to opt against other services", said the official.

In the case of the “Plaza San Martín”, the unit that will provide the connectivity is at the Real Theater. From there to the square it will cover a radius of 150 meters. On the mobile devices (cell phones, notebooks and netbooks) the name of the network that will provide the connection is named "Epec". Users must choose it to start navigating freely.

The project, developed by the Province with EPEC Telecomunicaciones, will be initially on these three points, which were fitted yesterday, but are expected around 1500. The service uses two technologies: in urban areas the access is through fiber optics and Wi-Fi, whereas in the marginal areas of the city the service will be provided by Wi-Max.

Wi-Max system works through antennae installed at no more than five kilometers. The network is similar to that of cellular telephony, and is used in areas where no other support or fiber optic cabling.

According Pastorino, the 1,500 points which will provide Internet to the city of Córdoba will be ready by mid of this year. At that time also should be ready another 800 hotspots in the cities of San Francisco, Rio Cuarto and Villa Maria.

(Source: La Voz – Argentina)

Further details

The challenges we face as a people and country, are permanent and vital. In this second decade of the century, one of them, for example, is to approach the knowledge that the researchers produce around the world, to schoolchildren in public schools and university students in the country, but who is responsible to do this?. On this occasion, who is committed to turning the challenge into a reality is the National Engineering University (UNI), which since 2009 runs the research project for the national schools access to advanced networks. The goal: to decrease the gaps.

The director of the UNI, Aurelio Padilla Rios, says: “Advanced networks are parallel to the Internet and fiber optics or wireless. It is an exclusive line for research and is available to all researchers in the world”, he explains.

The network node is in the university, and currently uses the IPv6 protocol, which enables wireless broadband installed up to 40 miles away. Three educational institutions benefit from this initiative: José Sabogal, Manuel Scorza and School No. 3052 in the districts of San Martín de Porres and Independencia, in Lima.

Children and adolescents in primary and secondary schools can develop applications such as video conferencing, virtual labs or specialized blogs, with advice from their teachers who were previously trained by specialists from the UNI. The university authority recognizes that due to good management of principals and teachers, the three schools can now offer this service to their students, however, that was convened to nine. For this reason, this year they decided to develop a plan to directly engage in educational management units, and expanding the network.

(Source: El Peruano, Newspaper)

Further details

In the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina), like in other countries in the region, we face the social impact produced by information and communication technology. This impact results in differences in the development opportunities of the population, causing a "digital gap" between those with and without access to information and communication technologies.

It is for this reason that the government, in the Bicentennial year, has inaugurated the digital cities, to effectively provide equal opportunities to all its inhabitants to have a fully integrated province.

In this framework, through the "Digital Province Plan Municipality by Municipality" will provide Social Internet services free and safe, providing in a first step, Social WiFi coverage to the main square of the municipality, thus regaining the public space as a place of family gatherings and neighborhood, and a Center for Digital Inclusion. Then, through the inclusion of remote sites are connected other areas of social concern such as schools, health centers, libraries, cultural centers and sports facilities among others.

The Social WiFi will have different navigation options according to the user's age and the purpose of use. These options are:
• Free Navigation with access to all pages
• Site Navigation government (national, provincial and municipal)
• Navigation for children, which only allow the access to educational sites and games. This navigation option will be accompanied by instructions for parents to encourage responsible Internet use.
 
All of these forms will have restricted access to pornography, incitement to violence and discrimination. The illumination of the municipalities will be developed in stages, starting with the less connected localities to the most connected, thus achieving equal opportunities for all inhabitants of the province of Buenos Aires.

In a first stage, inaugurated in late September, there will be the "Digital Foundation" of 4 cities in the center of the province: in the pilot will have the service the main square of the Club Ciudad Bolivar and Bolivar, space that will open the first Centre for Digital Inclusion, the main square of General Alvear, the Cultural Center in San Jose Olavarria and the main square in Tapalqué.

In a second stage, scheduled to open in late December, will be held the "Digital Foundation" of 17 Municipalities, Social WiFi coming to 20 cities where WiFi Social "illuminates" the main square and open a Centre Digital Inclusion is located in an enclosed place chosen by the Municipality.

Finally, a third stage to develop during the course of 2011, once put in technical terms the new provincial network, there will be the "Digital Foundation" of the remaining municipalities, Social WiFi coming with all the municipalities of Buenos Aires Province, providing the service a public space and opened a Center for Digital Inclusion in each of them.

(Source: Province of Buenos Aires)
Further details

The company America Móvil Perú (Claro) won the bid to execute the project "Integration of Rural Areas and preferential social interest places to the Network Services - North Central" and "Integration of Rural Areas and Preferred Social interest sites to the Network of mobile Service - South Central".

In this way the company “Claro” will invest 32 million and 172,678 US$ in both telephony projects for rural areas in north central and southern Peru, benefiting thousands of residents living in outlying areas of the country.

The first project will benefit to 137,000 people from 69 districts of the departments located in north-central Peru such as: Ancash, Cajamarca, La Libertad, Lima, Huánuco, Pasco and Piura. Also, the second project will benefit to 81,000 inhabitants of 59 districts of the departments located in the center south area of the country, such as: Apurimac, Ayacucho, Cusco, Huancavelica, Ica, Moquegua, Puno and Tacna. Both projects will directly benefit to 128 villages and 63 additional sites with coverage of mobile and fixed subscribers. In addition to 675 villages will get benefit indirectly.

America Móvil will provide all necessary infrastructures for the provision of mobile services and fixed telephony service in the selected locations, operate and maintain the infrastructure, and develop awareness and dissemination to the public on the use of services.
 
America Móvil Peru will sign a financing contract with the Investment in Telecom Fund (Fitel), whose term of validity is five years. However, after finishing the contract, they should continue providing services during the term of the respective concession contract.

(Source: RPP News)

Further details

"We are celebrating today the entry of 150,000 seniors to the digital age”, this was highlighted by the executive director of the National Social Ensurance Adminstration  (ANSES), Diego Bossio, by giving computers to the senior centers and pensioners across the country.

"In Anses we work hard for our retirees, so they can access to more benefits and facilities", said Bossio, who also presented medals to recognize employees who worked over 30 years in this institution.

The official referred to the program of access to computers for seniors and pensioners of Anses: “Grandparents PC 2010”, which provides to beneficiaries the possibility to access to a personal loan, by the National Bank, and provides the necessary training to use this technology.

Also, through an agreement signed between Anses, the National Bank of Argentina and Microsoft, there was created a fund for the donation of computers to senior centers which belongs to the Training and Social Integration Program, which has already received over 350 computers throughout the country. Thus, “we are in the way to consolidate the process of inclusion of older adults, improves the access to benefits and Anses digital services", said Bossio.

The official also presented medals and certificates to the employees that worked in Anses 30, 35, 40 and 45 years, and special mentions were given to workers nearing retirement. "This award is for those with a vocation of service and effort, leaving the soul and heart in Anses since long time”, said Bossio.

(Source: Secretaría de Medios de Comunicación – Argentina)

Further details

In order to enable access to integrated telecommunications services to various districts in the Ancash region, the Antamina Mining Fund (FMA) and the company Telefónica Movistar, in the framework of its Program “Intégrame”, delivered infrastructure and equipment to a wireless base station in the District of Pampas Chico.

This is the third delivery that enables the access to telephony services, mobile and public services, to the residents of the town of Conococha, Pampas Chico district and the towns of Catac, Recuay province which belongs to Ancash Region. The investment committed for this work by the Antamina Mining Fund is valued at US$ 195,500, and in the case of Movistar the investment was US$ 53,000. Thus, Movistar is committed to provide mobile services and fixed wireless. Also, this company will oversee the maintenance and operation of the wireless base station.

It is estimated that more than 20,000 inhabitants in the Valley Fortaleza, covering nine districts and 95 towns of the provinces of Recuay and Bolognesi, are being directly benefited from this project. Furthermore, it is providing service to many people that circulate through the area in the direction of the road Pativilca - Huaraz, as well as tourists who are visiting this area, especially Conococha Lake.

(Source: Biznews)

Further details

Intel ® Teach Program is a worldwide effort to help teachers experienced in education and students, to integrate technology into their classrooms to develop higher thinking skills of students and enhance learning. The participating teachers receive training and resources to promote the effective use of technology in the classroom.

Teachers learn about how, when and where to incorporate technology tools and resources to their lesson plan. In addition, experimenting with new approaches for implementing lesson planning tools and focused on learning goals and the official curriculum. The program incorporates the use of Internet, Web page design and student projects as vehicles for meaningful learning.

For over a decade, Intel Teach Program has helped to primary and secondary school teachers, around the world to understand how, where and when to bring the tools and technology resources into their classrooms. Up to date, the program has trained more than four million teachers in over 40 countries and is committed to reach 13 million by 2011. The Intel Teach Program in Latin America is currently offered in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru.

(Source: Intel)

Further details

The benefited students belongs to rural areas and low income families across the country.Education in Peru is progressing, and does so with the program "One Laptop per Child” (OLPC) that attempt to democratize the use of the internet with the delivery of a computer to poor children.

It is two years since the OLPC started this ambitious project, which has benefited over 871,000 children from 9,864 schools in the country. Now, all of them study hand in hand with the information and communication.

According to the general director of Educational Technology of the Ministry of Education, Oscar Becerra, "the daily use of this important technological tool has made that children significantly improved their reading comprehension and logical-mathematical work".

The results were obtained by the Ministry of Education (Minedu), which implemented tests of motivation and reading comprehension to students of primary schools in rural areas favored with "One Laptop per Child program", which will help more students in the next year.

(Source: Educación en red)

Further details

This is the Act C 124/10, 174/10S, "through which they will enact tax laws to control and for the competitiveness", and they will remove the VAT for Internet services in the economic strata 1, 2 and 3. This decision contributes significantly to the implementation of the technology Plan "Vive Digital", which has as one of its most important goals to increase from 2.2 million to 8.8 million the Internet connections over the next four years.

"The approval of the elimination of VAT for Internet services in the economic strata 1, 2 and 3 is a very important step to implement the plan "Vive Digital". We are committed to increase this service adoption, so the Colombians can access to the Internet and technology, and they can use Internet in their daily lives, in schools and in the microenterprises. Also, the technology will be in the life of every Colombian", said the ICT Minister, Diego Molano Vega.

The Plan "Vive Digital" is a proposal designed with the goal of bringing technology to the lives of all Colombians, especially those who are no longer connected, as those households from strata 1, 2 and 3, small entrepreneurs and traders of the country.

"Digital Experience" will feature about 5.5 billion pesos and seeks to give Colombia a technological leap over the next four years through the massive access to Internet and digital ecosystem development of the country. This initiative will promote the expansion of infrastructure, building services, application development and technology appropriation by users.

(Source: MINTIC – Colombia)

Further details

Phone lines and internet ports will reach neighborhoods, parishes, precincts and townships of Cotopaxi, through wireless networks that cover 40 miles.

In a conference, Guido del Toro, Director of the National Telecommunications Corporation (CNT) of this town, after an annual report, announced that the projects will be implemented in 2011, which will benefit the counties within the province, both, at ports of broadband internet as telephone lines.

Del Toro said that in 2010 they have been conducted a study to determine the type of project that requires the cantons according to the demand and estimate the necessity and implement the required projects.

Among the recipients are several parishes and districts of Latacunga, as Guaytacama, Joseguango Alto, La Calera, Lasso, Locoa, Santán, San Buenaventura, San Felipe, Los Hornos, Mulaló Pastocalle, San José de Poaló, Yugsiloma, San Carlos y Toacaso, this is the group that will benefit in the first quarter of next year.

In the second half, del Toro said that they will run several projects that will facilitate communication between cotopaxenses, through the implementation of telephone and internet ports, as have the internet service is no longer a luxury, but also a necessity, so that is one of the objectives of the corporation, to reach rural areas, he said.

(Source: Mintel – Ecuador)

Further details

The place provides access to telephony and Internet via satellite Simon Bolivar to 8100 inhabitants, a service that will be managed by the own community.

The Technical Committee on Telecommunications (MTT) of Ureña and the National Company of Telephony of Venezuela (CANTV) celebrated the inauguration of the Communication Communal Center “El Bolivariano II”.

The facility is located in “El Bolivariano II”, municipality Pedro María Ureña, Táchira state, from where they provide services to this community empowered to manage telecommunications.

This Community Center will offer its services through the Simón Bolívar satellite, and it will be equipped with four telephone lines and seven computers, for the first time provides voice and data access to users in this border community. This project was achieved with the support of MTT of Ureña, and through this new form of community communications, it will be benefit 8100 people living in the El Bolivariano II and the surroundings area.

(Source: Cantv – Venezuela)

Further details

Students from Educational Complex of Huáscar will benefit with computer labs, with 21 computers and with Internet access. The delivery was made as part of the Program “Proniño” of Telefónica Foundation, an initiative which pretends to combat the child´s labor, through the education.

Telefónica Foundation presented two Computer Rooms that have, each, 21 modern computers with Speedy Internet access, desks, printer, slate and mouse pads to the  Primary schools 70047 and the Polytechnic High school Huáscar of Puno.

To perform this important work, which will benefit to more than 590 adolescents, the company had to do electrical wiring, and improve the school infrastructure, which was made with the support of parents of the children of the school. This donation was made under the Program “Proniño”, supported by Telefónica Foundation. This initiative prevents the labor of children in Latin America through the education.

With the delivery of these computer labs, Telefónica Foundation seeks to improve the educational quality of schools and promote the educational use of technological tools, focusing on digital inclusion of children and adolescents to provide better development opportunities and access to decent labor market.

(Source: Telefónica del Perú)

Further details

The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society, in compliance with the project "Universal Access Program" for the provision of equipment and connectivity for schools in the State, will formally provide 2322 computers in several cities of Ecuador, with the aim of contributing in the organization, execution and implementation of educational projects.

Whereas the Ministry of Education set the standard equipment that is delivered for at least one computer for every 25 students, among other technological equipment, the Mintel carried out a supply of computers to the Municipalities, Provincial Governments and Institutions for Social development in several Cantons, which will be distributed to schools of: Montecristi, San Lorenzo, Rioverde, Santa Elena and La Libertad, Costa; Nabón, Catamayo, Mira, Otavalo, píllaro, Gualaceo, Pelileo, Guaranda San Miguel, Caluma, Chimbo, Chillanes and Quito in the Mountain area, and Cascales, Mera, Pastaza, Santa Clara and Joya de Los Sachas, in the Amazon area.

These provinces were considered for the delivery of equipment, as they have been benefited by the National Government with the provision of connectivity and equipment.

All citizens of the community and surrounding areas will have access to technology services, which will benefit in carrying out their daily activities.

Source: Mintel – Ecuador

Further details

Under the regulation of tax for works, Telefónica del Perú delivered today to the Municipality of Ite improvement and expansion works for the telecommunications services. With the opening of the Minister of Economy and Finance - MEF (Ismael Benavides), and the presence of the Mayor of Ite District (Ysaul Rivera), began a new stage through telecommunications, which will promote the development in the locality.

The works include the deployment of facilities to offer fixed telephony, public telephony, cellular telephony and Internet access.

This pilot project was developed in the framework of the Law 29230, which promotes public investment with private sector participation. Thus, Telefónica became the first company in the telecommunications sector in delivering infrastructure work under the regulation which allows to the private sector to swap tax for works. This measure is sponsored by Proinversión and MEF.

The Minister of Economy and Finance (Ismael Benavides) congratulated to the authorities of Ite and Telefónica of Peru for the implementation of this project, which he described as "successful" and expressed that he is sure that this is the first of many initiatives of this nature. "More than 4,500 residents of 6 towns located in the district of Ite will benefit with access to communications and integration into the world through Internet.

(Source: Telefónica del Perú)

Further details

With a new attendance record, for four days Internet fans and specialists on information enjoyed all the activities offered at "TELMEX Digital Village 2". Around 27 thousand persons - 3 400 villagers and more than 23-thousand of visitors could enjoy all the benefits of connectivity of 20 gigabits per second offered by TELMEX for the completion of the second edition of the most important cyber event in Mexico.
 
Villagers and visitors could enjoy gaming tournaments, workshops, competitions, demonstrations, lectures, games, digital art, gaming, free software, live concerts and sports car racing simulators, which were held from 9 to 12 December at the Center Banamex. The more than 7 million "Infinitum" subscribers had access to the contents and conferences that took place in Hamlet Digital TELMEX, through Prodigy MSN and telmex.com.

TELMEX developed the infrastructure necessary for connection to have a bandwidth at a speed of 20 Gbps, which represents the fastest Internet than ever was before in Mexico and a major navigation capabilities around the world for this kind of events. The infrastructure is based on next-generation optical technology to have a backup of 100% of traffic throughout the event.
 
There were also exhibitions and demonstrations of new technologies hardware and software manufacturers in the world including Apple, Blackberry, Dell, Eccl, Gameloft, HP, Huawei, Intel, LG, Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia, Nvidia, Sony and Toshiba.

(Source: Telmex - Mexico)
Further details

One of the most famous projects of the Government and the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society (Mintel) was formally launched on Friday 10 December. The first place is the Isla Puna, specifically the areas of Campo Alegre and Puna Viejo, where residents have high expectations to have this called "Infocentro" that from today will become a valuable tool for development and progress, because everyone of all ages will access to connectivity, online education, interaction, community involvement with localities benefiting from the plan, immediate information on all ministries and government actions, as well as the most important steps mainly to have a permanent training view for eradicating digital illiteracy.

Mr. Guerrero said that the President of the Republic, Rafael Correa Delgado, put special emphasis in the infocenters and has given a tremendous boost to hundreds of communities nationwide to integrate a large network, to be a huge opportunity to be known in the context not only national but also internationally, since they will have connectivity via Internet, wireless or satellite, which puts them on par with the modern world and of great opportunities. "It's almost an open door and we are absolutely sure that they will know how to maximize all the resources put at its disposal", he said.

Under this National Digital Plan Readiness, wich is running by Mintel, 1200 Community Infocenters will be implemented nationwide, from which 797 will be installed in rural areas and 403 in marginal urban sectors, in order to encourage beneficiaries to use the Information and Communication Technology. The Social investment for the project of Infocenters is US$ 14'500 000 and from this week will be openned more like these sites, this project is available in the portal www.infocentros.gob.ec for residents of each sector and the public in general who would have full information on the infocenter. In addition, a schedule of activities and various information related to tourism, production, outstanding activities for each sector.

The community of Campo Alegre has 700 people and Puna Viejo has 400 inhabitants, but around the country aims to generate direct employment to 1200 Infocentros coordinators; indirect employment for 5000 people in the stages of implementation, operation and implementation, as well as three million citizens of rural and marginal urban areas with access to information technology.

(Source: Mintel - Ecuador)
Further details

With this project of education, the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) next to the Orange Foundation, and Dynamic Stimulation and Digital Literacy (EDAD) have dual purpose: to prevent cognitive decline in older persons and promote the use of technology systems for social integration.

The convention was attended by the Chairman of the Board of Indotel, Dr. David Perez Taveras; Indotel executive director, Dr. Joelle Exarhakos, Mr. Andrés Ferreira and Manuel Gimeno from the Orange Foundation, which discussed the possibility of implement this project without cost in the digital classrooms that Indotel has created.

Older people form a group that usually live outside of the Information Society, despite constituting an increasingly important part of our population and have much free time at home, they can take advantage of ICT access to information, administrative management or shop online from home, contact with other seniors or their family members and enrich their leisure activities. In addition, the use of computer requires a proactive that can stimulate the cognitive abilities of older people but also by helping to keep the mind in the exercise.

To meet these needs, researchers of the Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), with the support of the Orange Foundation, has developed this draft of Stimulation Dynamics and Digital Literacy ( EDAD) and in alliance with Indotel to use the Computer Training Center as a platform to teach these courses in the 32 provinces of the country, encouraging the use of technology systems for the social integration and prevent cognitive decline in older people.

What is the Project “EDAD”?
EDAD Project (Stimulation Dynamic and Digital Literacy) is defined as a free course, available through the Internet, for older people to meet and learn to use the computer with a dual purpose: to prevent cognitive decline and promote social integration through the use of technology systems. The “EDAD” Project is based on the design of a specific methodology adapted to the needs of the elderly, offering a training program that allows easy access to the world of technology and, in turn, strengthens their mental functions as memory, thinking or solving problems.

(Source: Indotel - Dominican Republic)
Further details

Through an interactive video link with students on the schools, which benefit today, Hector Slim Seade, General Director of Teléfonos de Mexico (Telmex) and the lawyer Alfredo del Mazo, Mayor of Huixquilucan, put into operation four digital classrooms, as well as Free public access places of Infinitum mobile Internet service on the esplanade of the City, the Garden of Culture and two Schools of Bachelors.

These digital classrooms will directly benefit to 3,900 students per month, because these places are fully enabled with computer equipment, next-generation broadband connectivity in 4Mgbps Infinitum and educational software, developed by the company and the Technology Institute of Massachusetts (MIT), for the optimum use and maximum utilization of equipment. Moreover, with mobile WiFi service in public places also benefits the general population of the town with a tool for advanced communications technology.

The opened digital classrooms are located in public libraries of Colonia Palo Solo and Magdalena Chichicaspa and in the Youth Care Agency of Barrio de San Martín and Colonia San Fernando. These four digital classrooms have more than 109 desktop computer equipment and laptops, printers and scanners, as well as video projectors, cameras and video, monocular biological microscope, interactive globe with pen and all the necessary furniture for operation.

Through these classes, they provide to children, parents, students and teachers of schools; access to information technology through workshops and complementary to traditional educational programs, taught by highly qualified staff.

Similarly, with the free operation of mobile Internet access in public places, Teléfonos de Mexico, seeks, that the general public have free and widespread access to global network of knowledge.

(Source: Telmex, Mexico)

Further details

Like the young people, many older adults seek to keep pace with technological advances. This is the case of Norma Reyes, who at 75 years old can easily handle a mouse and surf in Internet. "Three months ago I was the only one in my house who could not use a computer. Now I can visit many web pages to entertain and inform by myself", Norma says while  she is browsing web pages of news,  listening to music on her website referred to and chat with their classmates.

She is a beneficiary of Digital Literacy Program offered by the Home for the Elderly in the Municipality of Jesus Maria (Lima) and is taught by seven teachers, the most notably is César Taramona, 71 years old, and who argues that: "with great patience and love the most old men of the house are overcoming prejudices".

Ernesto Fierro, 52 old, admits that some years ago he had the opportunity to attend a course with young and older adults, and the old people did not know even how to use a mouse. "It was a shame to see them feel excluded", he recalls. That experience allowed him to see that, except the houses for the elderly in some towns, there were no places where people with his age could learn the principles of the network.

Therefore, he established a Technical Center for Productivity (Cetpro) “Linda Systems”, located in San Borja (Lima), wich offers free computer classes in a session of two hours. People just need to show their ID and be willing to learn.

In 2009 over 200 older adults followed the Digital Literacy Program of Jesus Maria. At these workshops, people learn to create an e-mail, chat, video calls, using a USB and download photos from a digital camera.

The municipalities of Miraflores, San Borja and La Molina in Lima also provide computer classes for older adults.

(Source: educacionenred)

Further details

The Chilean government, Chile's telecommunications company Entel and Ericsson are together implementing a project to provide 3 million people in remote rural Chile with mobile broadband and mobile telephony by the end of 2011. The first stage of the project - Rural Internet Network: All Chile Communicated - was completed in September this year, by which time 1.7 million people had been connected.

Venezuelan Foundation "Infocentro" won UNESCO Prize "Rey Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa" for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education, the organization reported today. The Foundation received the award along with the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education in the United Kingdom, which together will pocket US$ 25,000, according to the UN Agency for Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in a statement.
 
Selected by the jury because of its project "Literacy technology for adults ", the Foundation "Infocentro" promotes  adults and other users to free access to information and communication technologies, to be trained to learn to Throughout life, they said. The foundation established infocentres in 680 schools around the country and launched a series of teaching modules for high quality, designed for adult learners to improve their computer literacy and acquire more advanced skills in information technology and communication. The winning projects were chosen from 49 nominations from 34 countries, one intergovernmental organization, and the Organization of Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO).
 
Thus, Infocenter has allowed more than one million Venezuelans, including many disabled person, having basic technical knowledge now. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) in the UK is the largest NGO dedicated to protecting the interests of adult learners in England and Wales, they said.
 
This year's edition of the award was focused on the "digital basic instruction: to prepare adult learners for learning throughout life and a flexible working life". The General Director of Unesco, Irina Bokova, will present the award in an official ceremony to be held on January 12, 2011 at the headquarters of the Organization in Paris.
(Source: CANTV - Venezuela)
Further details

The site, which was launched on Monday with hundreds of thousands of popular titles on sale and millions more free, will compete for a slice of the market for digital books, valued at about US$ 1,000 million and will continue to grow in coming years .

Google eBooks, formerly known as Google Editions, represents a new opportunity for the Internet giant to come face to face with two of its most powerful rival, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. and open a new revenue source besides online advertising.

"The publishers want more competition in the market and we already have a large investment", said Tom Turvey, director of strategic partnerships for Google. "We're trying to extend the value of content that exists in the world by helping people to find it and buy it".

Users can purchase books through books.google.com/ebooks and read them in many devices, including tablet computers, smartphones and digital book readers open format. On Monday, Google launched applications to buy and read ebooks for iPhone, iPod Touch and Apple iPad, as well as mobile devices that operate with your operating system Android. Google eBooks will be available outside the U.S. from the first quarter of 2011.

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)
Further details

The workshop on Teacher’s ICT-Competency: Developing the Knowledge Deepening Strand is taking place this week at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. International experts in the field of ICT in education gathered to develop syllabus and assessment benchmarks for UNESCO’s ICT-Competency Framework for Teachers project.

Today’s classroom teachers need to be prepared to provide technology-supported learning opportunities for their students. UNESCO’s ICT Competency Framework for Teachers is an important guideline towards that goal. The objectives of this project are:

to constitute a common core syllabus (defining various ICT competency skills for teachers), which can be used to develop learning materials;

to provide a basic set of qualifications that allows teachers to integrate ICT into their teaching and learning;

to extend teachers’ professional development so as to advance their skills in pedagogy, collaboration and school innovation using ICT;

to harmonize different views and vocabulary regarding the uses of ICT in teacher education.

In a five-day workshop, international experts gathered to further develop the ICT modules to move on from the Phase I version to a more detailed syllabus, including assessment benchmarks. The meeting was opened by UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Jānis Kārkliņš, and the Assistant Director-General for Education, Qian Tang, who stated: “This programme is very important for UNESCO, because teachers are our priority and they are key for reaching the Education for All (EFA) goals. Teachers’ ICT competency becomes an important element of teaching and learning in the 21st century.

Discussions during the workshop reflected the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the international experts, coming from all regions and from countries with different levels of economic development and ICT-readiness.

Jānis Kārkliņš stressed that “ICT-CFT has already become an international reference document - the work of the international experts will ensure ICT-CFT continues to be a valuable resource to Member States.” The syllabus will undergo a broad online peer review by some 150 additional international experts, plus another UNESCO-financed review meeting.

The ICT-CFT project has been developed in partnership with Cisco, Intel, ISTE and Microsoft. Its Phase I produced a Policy Framework, Competency Standards Module and Implementation Guidelines, which included syllabus approaches for the three main areas: Technology Literacy, Knowledge Deepening and Knowledge Creation. Phase II began in April 2010 to develop the next versions of the syllabi, starting with the Technology Literacy strand and now the Knowledge Deepening strand. The final workshop is expected to take place in spring 2011, to further develop the Knowledge Creation strand to provide a complete international reference for teacher education.

The three booklets produced by Phase I of the project are available online:

Policy Framework

Competency Standards Modules

Implementation Guidelines

Source: UNESCO
Further Details

The Ministry of Telecommunications through the National Telecommunications Corporation (CNT EP), delivered 1,200 new telephone lines to the city of Sucúa, jurisdiction of the province of Morona Santiago. In the main coliseum of the town, they met a lot of public, CNT according to the plans set for this year, began the process to award a very significant amount of telephone lines that will benefit the urban and rural towns.

Raul Auquilla Delgado, manager of the CNT in Morona Santiago said that this task involves a group of employees committed to progress and public welfare. With pride and the satisfaction of accomplishment, noted, we stand infront of you today to deliver 1,200 new communication solutions. Sucúa from the beginning was our goal, although the province is in the same line.

 We believe this is the ideal place to announce new projects for our province. "The technology we are running, such as fiber optic cord close to the rest of southern country, will let us provide broadband Internet access", he said.

 In the same way Freddy Moscoso, Manager of the CNT of Caña, who on behalf of the General Manager of the CNT, inaugurated and officially handed over this extension. Also, he mentioned that Morona Santiago, as the Austro of the the country, remained for many years in total abandonment in telecommunications, forcing the CNT to establish new executable projects, whose results are visible to everyone. Sucúa installed capacity, as of today, is doubled.

It is clear progress in the field of telecommunications, we note the change, now users can access Internet services on broadband, and telephony have to communicate nationally and internationally, it reaffirms the links of family memebers and why not say contribute to the economic development of the population. That's Citizen Revolution.
(Source: Mintel - Ecuador)
Further details

Mario Beder, Secretary of State for Education and Training, and Guillermo Ansaldo, president of Telefonica de España, have signed an agreement today in Madrid by with the Spanish operator joins to the Pogram "School 2.0" and launches, as a result thereof, the first flat Rate "Deberes" (Duties) for ADSL market, and also an additional one for Mobile Internet. Both rates, which represent a substantial savings compared to those available for other users, are particularly aimed at parents or legal guardians of pupils in grades 5 and 6 of primary school and 1 and 2 of Secondary Education, and whose schools which develop School 2.0 Program.

Both "Movistar ADSL Duties" as "Duties Movistar Mobile Web" will incorporate additional free services such as Canguro Net, a content filtering service that protects users from inappropriate Internet content, and Aula365, a tutoring service for children between 6 and 16 years old and incorporating multimedia resources for active learning and engaging.

During the presentation ceremony of the Convention, the Secretary of State for Education and Training, Mario Beder, highligted that "with School 2.0 Program The Ministry of Education not only encourages the modernization of our educational system, but also through agreements such as which we signed today is intended to create all conditions for all students and their families have access to the Internet universe on favorable terms".

"Movistar ADSL Duties" will be free of charge in the instalation of the service, and for 16.90 euros per month the user will have a flat rate of surfing - with 1Mb download speeds and 364kb upload speed -from Monday to Sunday from 17:00 hours to 21:00 hours. Calls will be billed at the current rates. The service also includes free wireless router for rent, 5 mailboxes and Web space of 10 Mb

For its part "Movistar Mobile Internet Duties" offers for 9.5 euros per month flat rate unlimited data on the schedule from 17 to 21 hours, every day of the week, through 3G/HSPA network, with maximum speeds of 7.2 Mbps download data, and 2Mbps upload. The 3G modem is free if you purchase a contract committing to stay for 12 months.

Program "School 2.0"
The signing of this agreement is part of the development of the Program "School  2.0", a project that the Ministry of Education has been promoting since September 2009 and aims at the integration of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) in schools.

(Source: Telefónica de España)
Furhter details

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies, through the appropriation of ICT Division, will present "Internet safe". The initiative aims to protect children and adolescents in the country from all forms of online behavior that might damage its integrity.
 
The Viceminister of ICT, María Carolina Hoyos Turbay, will present the strategy "Internet safe" on November 30. "Internet safe" is a proposal that integrates child protection issues on the network as sexual exploitation, pornography and behaviors that affect the integrity of children and young people in the network. The strategy calls on citizens to actively participate in the prevention of sexual exploitation involving minors on the Internet, to denounce, to maintain a communication from parents, teachers and responsible adults with children emphasizing the importance of safe and able to navigate and enjoy safe.

The name INTERNET SAFE, seeks to identify the media campaign and create an icon that can be used by ISP (Internet Sevice Provider) in its different pages based on Colombian thematic, is a name that means that the Colombian state institutions are active and pending to prevent child pornography.
Further details in www.internetsano.gov.co

(Source: Ministry of Information and Communications thecnologies (MINTIC) -Colombia)
Further details

The Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society (Jaime Guerrero Ruiz) signed an agreement with the Director of the School Cariamanga Portoviejo, Canton Province of Loja (Mr. Darwin Torres Jiménez), in order to promote development of Information Society and the Good Life in Ecuador, through the technological and computer equipment in that school.

The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society (Mintel), in order to contribute to the organization, execution and implementation of social projects, gave loan, loan application to Portoviejo School: 17 computers with their respective voltage regulators, 17 mouse pads, and a printer, a digital whiteboard and a projector that will be used to promote the efficient use of ICT, benefiting 360 students and 17 teachers of the School Portoviejo.

In the event of delivery, Mr. Jaime Guerrero highlighted how crucial it is for the government to build links that unite hearts and convey knowledge to nurture the intellect of children and young people, present and future of Ecuador, to dream something workable, stating that a child or a neglected child of cantons, as Cariamanga, may be tomorrow, who directs the destiny of the country or holding office as Minister of Telecommunications, which gives you the opportunity to take decisions on behalf of the entire society equally and fairly.

For its part, the Director of the School Portoviejo, Mr. Darwin Torres, said, "In school we are celebrating today Portoviejo, we are ahead of Christmas. We now have a modern, globalized education. Today more than ever we will take every opportunity of development and evolution through access to new technologies". As a token of appreciation Mr. Torres presented plaques of appreciation to the President of the Republic, the Minister of Telecommunications and the Regional Manager of the CNT in Loja, Mr. Manuel Benavidez.

Lady Sarango, Portoviejo flagship school, thanked the President of the Republic, Econ. Rafael Correa, and telecommunications minister, Jaime Guerrero, by providing them with equipment and satellite internet. "This technology will serve as support to interact, learn about different realities and project as student development and progress of our peoples," he said.

(Source: Mintel - Ecuador)
Further details

A new 850 GSM radio base tower from Entel was inaugurated in La Paz, Tumupasa in the province of Iturralde of the Department of La Paz to provide mobile telephony services and public telephony, to Tumupasa as well as the surrounding communities of the region: San Silvestre, Esmeralda, Palestina, Rio Colorado and el Paraíso. So, with this new telecommunications radio base, more than 3 000 people will be benefit in this agricultural region growing. Tumupasa is located at the top on the road between the towns of San Buenaventura and Ixiamas.
 
The new radio base tower corresponds to the expansion project under the rural mobile coverage that Entel has been implementing in coordination with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing Services, a project that aims to democratize the use of telecommunications, not only for urban, but also for rural areas residents.
 
The significant opening ceremony took place in the main square of Tumupasa and was attended by Regional Manager Mr. Entel La Paz, Jorge Gonzales, local authorities and the general public.

(Source: AHCIET)
Further details

 The strategy "Vive Gobierno en Línea", a digital tend that for 6 months trained over 71,500 people in the management of online government tools in different regions of the country, won first place in the Public Administration category of the awards Frida 2010, delivered by CEPAL. "Vive Gobierno en Línea" traveled over 7,500 miles showing on the Colombian that the Government Online program, from the ICT Ministry, works and also gives them many benefits.

"Vive Gobierno en Línea" is a high-scale initiative that a country in the region has implemented to promote the use, knowledge and use of information, transactions and services that state agencies provide online.
 
"For Colombia is an honor to get this recognition. We receive this award with the commitment to continue developing the online government in the country, to ensure that citizens make effective use of these services and thus easier to relate to the state", said the Minister of ICT, Diego Molano Vega, about this distinction.

The award Frida / eLAC 2010's main objective is to recognize research initiatives and digital innovation that contributed to the development of Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years.
 
The award FRIDA / eLAC 2010 is organized by the Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNIC), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Internet Society (ISOC) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) and comes in different categories, thematic areas of the Regional Strategy on Information Society, eLAC, and by sector of activity.

(Source: MINTIC - Colombia)
Further details

The National Telecommunications Corporation (CNT EP), pursuant to the provisions of the Law Amending the Law of the Elderly and in accordance with the mandate embedded in the Constitution of Ecuador, benefits more than 18,000 users of older by applying an exemption of 50% in the basic  rent of telephone service and the implementation of special modules for care and recovery.
 
Requirements
Users should approach the Internal Revenue Service, IRS, to apply this exemption and according the  information provided by the regulatory body of citizens, they can determine who qualifies to be exempt and not pay the VAT; in addition to the reduction of consumption by 50% in the basic rent directly.
 
Preferential treatment

Integrated Services Centers, CIS, have physical space to care for the elderly in a comfortable and appropriate place. If it is not feasible to go personally to do some processing of requests for products or services of the CNT, authorize in writing to a relative.

 
It should be noted that in case of death of the user, the privileges gained on the telephone line are automatically lost . To be reinstated, it must make the appropriate assignment of rights in the event that the new user is elderly, and the process begins again.

 
Thus, the Ministry of Telecommunications through the CNT EP complies with national government policies and the development of the good life of citizens, seeking to provide more and better telecommunications and connectivity services throughout the country, backed a solid technology platform.

 

(Source: Mintel – Ecuador)

Further details

New law addresses the weaknesses of the networks of telecommunications in disasters, which were revealed in the earthquake of 27 February, especially on backup power antennas, quality of communication services and delivering timely and accurate information to citizens. In case of suspension, interruption or alteration of public telephone service and Internet, users will be compensated.

After the earthquake on last 27 February, President Piñera assumed as one of its commitments to restructure the country's emergency agencies and creating an early warning system "to avoid repetition of dialogues, confusion, ambiguity, we could observe that although we had institutions in charge, none fulfilled its duty to warn the Chileans and may have saved many lives", said the president.

The presidential task has taken a big step forward with the final approval of the National Congress of the Law on Reconstruction and Emergency Telecommunications, which was released yesterday unanimously for the enactment of the Executive. The new body of law creates an early warning system, following the best practices implemented in the U.S.A and Japan, for accurate and timely inform the public how to act in case of disaster.

At the same time, the Act addresses the weaknesses and shortcomings in telecommunications networks exposed after the earthquake happened, increasing the demands on telephone and Internet companies, especially in the field of energy support networks, service quality and communication compensation to users regarding failures or interruptions.

On this last point, the law grants public treatment and Internet service provides automatic deduction and payment of compensation in case of suspension, interruption or disruption of telephone service and Internet. It also clarifies that the discounts and allowances should also apply to services with flat plans and prepaid.

In this way, it seeks to ensure emergency service continuity in the public telecommunications system, providing to the State the tools to coordinate actions and have better infrastructure prepared, identifying critical sites in the network that should have special measures security.

(Source: SUBTEL - Chile)
Further details

Telefónica and Nokia launched the first organic commercial offering in the market, which includes two of the most "sustainable" mobile devices: Nokia N8 and Nokia C7, adapted by the Finnish manufacturer exclusively for movistar. This is the first commercial release to materialize the overall project "Green Customer Experience" of Telefónica, designed to offer customers a "green" experience, since the device was shopping until the end of its useful life.

Spain is the first country where Telefónica starts the project; the proposal will be coming gradually to other countries where the Spanish company has a presence, like UK, Germany, Argentina, Peru and Chile.

This is the first offer "sustainable" integrated between an operator and a manufacturer that links the use of wireless to save power and enables customers concerned about the environment, access terminals made with innovative materials and cutting edge technology and eco-design that minimizes environmental impact, offered for sale also 100% recyclable boxes of smaller size and organic content applications and ad-hoc.

The terminals have ecological applications, reduced packaging, charger, high efficiency and final recycling option. All this accompanied by an attractive commercial offer that rewards the decision to buy this mobile service integrated.

 

(Source: Telefónica)
Further details

Simple mobile technology, like basic cell phones, can be used to save the lives of mothers in childbirth, and improve the care of newborns and children, reaching underserved populations in remote areas. The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) praises innovation seen at the second mHealth Conference in Washington, and PMNCH Partners’ Forum in New Delhi.

More advanced mobile technology can do even more, such as checking on patients, keeping records, improving diagnosis and treatment in the field, and letting community health workers consult general practitioners and specialists for guidance."With mobile technologies for health, called ‘mhealth’ or ‘mobile health,’ we’re extending capabilities to where they don’t exist today", says David Aylward, who heads mHealth Alliance, a partnership founded by the United Nations Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation.

"At the most basic level, mobile phones can be used to keep track of people, call for emergency assistance, remind them of appointments and share information", says Julian Schweitzer, PhD, former Chair of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Care (PMNCH) and the Chair of the Finance Working Group for the UN Secretary-General's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, launched in September. "But then you can layer on things like check lists, protocols, the steps to ensure a safe birth and action instructions in particular circumstances", says Dr. Schweitzer.

Used by midwives in rural, urban slums and isolated areas, cell phones can also be attached to diagnostic devices, including those used for remote fetal monitoring or remote wireless ultrasound. This lets a midwife or health worker know in advance that a mother must get to a clinic. They can also be used for recording births and deaths or assuring that both women and children get the care they need when and where they need it.

"In the near future, wireless diagnostics like stethoscopes, blood pressure, temperature and insulin monitors, and ultrasounds will enable remote diagnosis and treatment far from the closest doctor or clinic", says Mr. Aylward.

(Source: PMNCH and World Health Organization)

Further details

The highest authorities of the National Telecommunications Corporation (CNT EP) of the regional 2, comprised by Pichincha, Orellana and Napo, reported progress in the province of Orellana.

 
The people of this province have benefited from this service, with a remarkable 496% growth compared to 2008, where connectivity was very low. Fixed telephony grew by 83.09% compared to 2007 and currently have this service more families. This province has significantly increased voice and data services and, in telephony, for example, until 2006 it had 5,584 lines and to date shows an increase with a total of 12,224 lines distributed between several locations.

 
Carlos Loayza, delegate of the General Manager of the CNT EP, reported that the Province of Orellana had 476 Internet ports in 2008 and currently has 2,476 ports, which means an unprecedented growth. The official emphasized that among the localities benefited comprise: Taracoa, Dayuma, Loreto, San Sebastian del Coca, Joya de los Sachas and Coca.

 
The National Government, through its Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society, cares for the benefits that customers receive from the CNT EP, wich provides the best care to the citizens such as: reduction of response times to customers and delivery of service excellence to raise the levels of satisfaction and quality of life for people throughout the Amazon community.

 
It should be noted that in January 2009, the CNT EP decreased to 50% the values of calls between the 24 provinces. Now call between provinces is 0.02ctvos dollar. This reduction helps more than 1'800,000 subscribers and the National Telecommunication Corporation CNT EP is expected to connect all corners of the country, not only domestically, but also internationally.

(Source: Mintel - Ecuador)
Further details

Telefónica of Perú introduced "Online Business" (NEL), an integrated solution for e-commerce, aimed at professionals, small and medium businesses, allowing them to gain online presence and establish sales channels online at very low cost, opening up interesting prospects for winning new markets and increase their sales worldwide without the need for more investment.

Marcelo Echeguren, Marketing Director of SME Business Segment from Telefónica del Perú said "Today, most SMEs do not have Internet presence, which limits their ability to access large markets and reduces the potential for growth and development. "Online Business" is a turnkey solution that meets this need and reaffirms our commitment to be partners for the development of SMEs". Business Online design tool includes a web page, its own domain, mailboxes, a hosting, technical support by phone and chat and modules for online payments. The latter can have a shopping cart for customers to conduct transactions with debit and credit cards.

For launch, the service is offered free of charge during the first two months; later, as from the third month the customer will have to pay S/.59 (20.98 US$) for their own virtual store with shopping cart included.

(Source: Telefónica del Perú)
Further details

Until the end of this year, the portfolio of Education will implement the first phase of the pilot "My Compu" in order to provide portable computers (laptops) to 3,200 children and 172 teachers from 17 educational institutions in Cuenca, small chuchs of Monay, Totoracocha, Yanuncay and Cañaribamba, and 622 students and 26 teachers from six schools in La Libertad (Santa Elena), as part of its Integrated Technology System for School and Community (SITEC).

In the Government office of Cuenca was signed an agreement with the Municipality of that city for the pilot program. The service includes equipment, awareness, training and assessment, with the input of the municipality on connectivity and logistics.

(Source: Diario El Telégrafo)
Further details