“The growing interest in the new technologies shown by the inhabitants of the communities with limited access to such technologies is a proof of their desire to know and to socialize, as well as of the vital necessity of communications in each person’s development”, Dan Georgescu, the President of ANRCTI, declared, after visiting the telecentres of Maguri, Cluj county and Perisor, Bistrita Nasaud county.
“The two telecentres which we have visited represent examples of good practice, because the communities rallied all their resources in order to use at maximum the benefits provided by technology. Maguri village is situated in the central part of Romania, being the biggest compact mountain village situated at an altitude of 1200 metres, whereas Perisor is a remote village, 11 kilometres away from the closest village. By having access to the communications means, the inhabitants of these villages have made the first step towards the European civilisation”, Dan Georgescu added.
Wishing to offer access to information to an increased number of people, ANRCTI – under its partnership with the local authorities and the communications providers – will launch tenders for approximately 270 telecentres during this year.
The installation of the telecentre in Maguri was performed by Vodafone Romania, whereas Radiocom installed the telecentre in Perisor. The operators offered free of charge access to services on the day of the official launch, and will further charge tariffs which will be affordable for the inhabitants. The telecentre is a public space equipped with at least two telephones, two computers and a fax, within which end-users are able to make and receive local, national and international calls. The telecentre also offers communications services through fax, as well as data transmission services at a transfer rate as sufficient as to enable the functional Internet access. Thus, the approximately 950 inhabitants of Maguri and the 600 inhabitants of Perisor will be able to make and receive local, national and international calls, including towards the mobile telephony networks. Furthermore, they will be able to call the emergency number – 112 – and have access to Internet and fax. Out of the 19 telecentres afferent to Cluj county, 7 are already functional. As well, 3 of the 7 telecentres in Bistrita Nasaud county are functional. The remaining telecentres are to become operational by mid-2007.
The two telecentres are part of the national programme for the installation of telecentres in villages with limited access or without access to telephony services, initiated by ANRCTI in 2004. So far, ANRCTI has launched 5 tenders for the purpose of installing telecentres in 331 localities. At present, 136 telecentres are functional.