Mauritius Schools to Get High Bandwidth Internet
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Tags: broadband, internet, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, schools, wifi
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The Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, announced that his Ministry will shortly, subject to procurement procedures, award a contract to provide all secondary schools with high bandwidth internet connectivity through Wi-Fi networks.
The announcement was made this morning at La Canelle, Domaine Les Pailles at the launching of a Workshop on Telecommunication and ICTs: Drivers of Innovation organised by the National Computer Board on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2015. “It is an undeniable fact that the first step in winning the future is to invest in the core strengths of our people for them to unleash their innovative ideas, inventiveness and creativity to create products and services,” according to Mr Jugnauth.
The Technology, Communication and Innovation Minister stated that Government can no longer afford high drop-out rates in the educational system if the country wants to realize a second economic miracle driven by an innovation-led economy. “In this context, all schools will be equipped with the right and innovative educational technologies and tools as well as high speed internet connectivity,” he stated.
Sharing Government’s vision and plans in the area of innovation which he deemed will be a game changer in catalysing economic growth, creating countless number of jobs for the youth and improving the quality of life of the citizen, Mr Jugnauth announced that the National Technology Communication and Innovation Strategy Plan 2015-2020, aiming to pave the way for a smart and intelligent Mauritius, is due to be released by next month.
Speaking on the measures to uphold the Information and Communication Technology and Innovation sector, Mr Jugnauth affirmed that Mauritius will be crossing an important milestone on 17 June 2015 by moving to a complete switch to digital terrestrial television broadcasting. The measure, he added, will free abundant spectrum along with wide spaces for innovative and high bandwidth internet services. He also said that by December 2015, at least 350 Wi-Fi hotspots with broadband internet will be set up in public places around the island.
The Minister expressed his pleasure to see that in line with Government’s vision, Mauritius Telecom is focusing on the issue of innovation by creating a new division that will focus on business development and innovation. He also commended the company for other initiatives such as the launching of a learning and innovation centre to be known as Orange Academy and the acceleration of the inland fibre optic development project whereby it would offer to more than 70,000 of its customers internet speed at 10 times faster than their present internet package while keeping the prices unchanged.
It is to be noted that the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is an annual event celebrated on 17 May, with the main objective of raising awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. The theme this year is “Telecommunications and ICTs: Drivers of innovation”, to commemorate the unique contribution that Information and Communication Technologies have made to drive innovation, as well as to accelerate social and economic development.
