On Wednesday, August 9, 2006, at the telecentre installed in the village of Udupu, Teleorman county, the National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC) launched an information campaign on telecentres, dedicated to the over 40,000 inhabitants of the 38 villages where telecentres have already been installed. ANRC President, Dan Georgescu, and Vasile Voicu, Deputy Executive Director for Operations in Romtelecom, attended the event and, together with the villagers in Udupu, tested the telephone and Internet access services provided through the telecentre installed by Romtelecom in this village.
Telecentres have been installed in villages deprived of access to communications services. They are public spaces where people can come and make or receive telephone calls or facsimiles and may use computers connected to the Internet. The installation of these telecentres is part of the national programme of Universal Service implementation, by the end of which the inhabitants of over 600 isolated rural communities will benefit from telephone and Internet access services.
“Telecentres represent the solution to the communications access problem of certain communities where, until now, the installation of a telephone set or an Internet connection seemed impossible. As a result of its partnership with the industry and the local administrations, ANRC connected the inhabitants of 38 villages to the rest of the world. The installation of telecentres is an ongoing process, since all Romanian citizens have the right to a minimum set of communications services. The information campaign launched today by ANRC will announce the inhabitants of the villages in the area of the telecentres that they now have, close to their homes, a telephone they can use to make emergency calls or to talk to their relatives and friends whenever they wish,” Dan Georgescu, ANRC President declared on this occasion.
“Telecentres are the sole possibility for villagers in such localities to get connected to the rest of the world and benefit from equal chances to information, education and opportunities. Along with the other operators, Romtelecom contributes to the Universal Service fund and, during the past years, has made significant efforts in order to extend its communications network, even in the most remote areas, difficult to reach from a technical viewpoint, and invested important amounts in new infrastructure (access and transport network) and new technologies. Unfortunately, as in other parts of the world, in Romania also exist such difficult areas, where individual efforts of operators are no longer enough, a nationally coordinated intervention being necessary”, Vasile Voicu, Deputy Executive Director for Operations in Romtelecom, declared.
The village of Udupu is listed among the 38 localities where telecentres have been installed following the tender held by ANRC in September 2005, as part of the national programme dedicated to the installation of telecentres in the communities with limited access to telephone and Internet access services. The village of Udupu has over 1700 inhabitants who will now have the possibility to make telephone calls, send faxes and surf the Internet. By the end of this year, more 170 isolated villages will each benefit from a telecentre. Telecentres are to be financed by ANRC for three years and, subsequently, the local public administrations will transform them into independent self-sustained businesses.