Internet access for the grass roots

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Subject: Internet access for the grass roots and schools by 2002

Headlines 
Internet access for the grass roots and schools by 2002

THAILAND aims to provide Internet access to the grassroots and all schools by
Year 2002, said Deputy Prime Minister and Science Minister Suwit Khunkitti,
who
aspires to see computers become part of Thai daily life. 
Meanwhile, its Software Park or IT community project is scheduled to start
next
month, Rom Hiranpruk, the Software Park's project director, said. 
Suwit told The Nation yesterday that the SchoolNet project will provide access
to students and the poor in local communities to use Internet and computers. 
The Deputy Prime Minister, who is in charge of government IT policies, sees
the
need to use computers and the Internet to develop the human resources of the
country and computers. 
''I have a concern here that if Thais don't know how to use computers, our
country could drag behind in development,'' Suwit said. 
''Computers should become part of our daily life and every household should
have it like having a TV set.'' 
Suwit blamed the monopoly of the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT)
for
inadequate public access to Internet, saying CAT caused Internet usage fees to
be too high for general public members. 
''An Internet provider is required to allocate 30 per cent of its shares to
CAT, which doesn't have to pay for the shares. CAT is the main obstacle to
competition among Internet service providers. 
''Internet services provision should be liberalised and privatised and CAT
should control only at the policy level,'' Suwit said. 
He said the SchoolNet was initially planned to go into full operation next
year, but the project was delayed because the Education Ministry was worried
about the millennium bug, which could cause computers to mistake the year 2000
as 1900. 
He said the economic crisis and problems about computer purchases also caused
delays. 
He said the SchoolNet project would allow students to use computers as
tools to
search for educational resources and local people and tambon administrative
organisations would also be allowed to use the computers and Internet
access at
local public schools. 
Suwit said the government also supported the Software Park project, which
encourages software developers to use the same venue and share technologies. 
Rom told The Nation that 16 companies are committed to moving to the Software

Park building. They include nine joint-venture companies and five
international
firms. Three of the international companies deal with software while the other
two organisations provide Y2K solutions. 

BY PIYANART SRIVALO and 
SOMPIT POTIPATTANAKORN 


The Nation