August 30, 2007, Pravaleni, Hunedoara county. Dan Georgescu, the President of the National Regulatory Authority for Communications and Information Technology together with Alin Gadian, Timisoara Regional Manager, on behalf of Vodafone Romania, have met with the users of the telecentre which Vodafone Romania installed in Pravaleni, Hunedoara county, in order to test the telephony and Internet services it offers.
“Today, with the launch of the telecentre of Pravaleni, we should look behind and make a review of what we have accomplished up to now. So far, in figures, the experience of the telecentres may be resumed as follows: 232 functional telecentres out of the total of 600 which ANRCTI proposed to install in the isolated communities of the rural area. These telecentres shall ensure the access to telephony and Internet services by means of the national programme for the installation of telecentres; furthermore, approximately 200,000 people whose life changed due to ANRCTI initiative, people that are now able to communicate easier with their relatives or friends from abroad, who have access to information, to whom the world seems closer now and, as well, more than 15,000 children able to broaden their horizons, who have access to knowledge and can be informed”, declared Dan Georgescu, the President of ANRCTI.
“It is a pleasure for us to launch today, at Pravaleni, the 43rd telecentre that Vodafone installed in the country, within the project initiated by ANRCTI in the localities with limited access or without access to telephony services. By introducing telecommunications and Internet services in the entire country, Vodafone contributes to the development of the local communities, being a constant partner in this project. On August 30, Vodafone Romania shall offer to the inhabitants of Pravaleni the possibility to test free of charge the services made available by the telecentre. By the end of the year, Vodafone will install other 18 telecentres in the following counties: Arad, Bistrita-Nasaud, Bihor, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dambovita, Dolj, Hunedoara, Olt, Suceava, Tulcea and Valcea”, declared Liliana Solomon, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Romania.
Vodafone equipped the telecentre of Pravaleni with the best quality equipments: 2 fixed telephones, a fax, with a scanner, a copier, a printer, 3 computers connected to the Internet and the necessary office furniture. These equipments enable the end-users to initiate and receive local, national and international telephone calls (including towards the mobile telephone networks), to benefit from the fax and data transmission services, to surf the Internet and call the emergency call number – 112. Moreover, Vodafone Romania makes available for the inhabitants of Pravaleni free of charge web hosting services through myDomain, which offer them the possibility to create e-mail accounts. The myDomain service also enables its users to create and manage Internet pages free of charge.
The telecentre launched today is part of the national programme for installation of telecentres in the villages with limited access or without access to telephony services, initiated by ANRCTI in 2004. So far, ANRCTI has organized 5 tenders for the installation of telecentres in 331 localities. On June 1, 2007, the sixth tender for the installation of telecentres in 131 localities was launched and the seventh tender is to be launched for the purpose of installing telecentres in other 139 localities. At present, 232 telecentres are functional. Out of the 10 telecentres afferent to Hunedoara county, 4 are already functional. The remaining telecentres are to be in use by end-2007.
The 232 telecentres installed so far are examples of good practice, proving the interest people have for knowledge and development and highlighting the benefices the telecentres bring in the communities’ development. In Susani, Valcea county, a villager sold his goat flock on the Internet; in the same county, in Mologesti, most of the classes are held in the telecentre and the mayor decided that the Internet access be free of charge; in Fantanele, Dambovita county, two more PCs were added and the villagers proposed to use the telecentre as the unique office for paying the utilities (water, electricity, radio-TV tax, bank rate). These are only few examples, but each community has succeeded to use efficiently the facilities offered by the telecentre and be connected to the world.