Yesterday, at the ANRC headquarters, the 5 companies winning the first tender for the implementation of Universal Service organised in 2005, together with the mayors of several beneficiary localities and the ANRC President, concluded the agreements for the installation and management of telecentres. 33 telecentres will be commissioned by end-April 2006 and will provide access to telephone and Internet services for more than 41,000 rural inhabitants.
On the occasion of the signing ceremony, the ANRC President announced the launch of the second tender for the connection of another series of 70 rural localities to fixed telephone and Internet services.
“The first tender held in 2005 was a success, involving the participation of powerful companies in the Romanian market and will bring benefits to the inhabitants of villages within 20 counties, where ANRC will finance the installation of 33 telecentres. The vivid interest of the mayors and of the industry in this project proves the viability of the mechanism for the installation of telecentres. We hope these telecentres will contribute to the development of the communications infrastructure. I thank those who have gathered here today for their trust in the project and invite them to participate, together with the industry, in the second tender we are launching today”, the ANRC President, Mr. Dan Cristian Georgescu, declared.
Once with the installation of the telecentre, all the members of the respective community will have rapid access to information which had previously been impossible to reach; they will be able to talk over the telephone with their relatives living in distant corners of the country or working abroad and will have the possibility to announce emergency situations in due time. The pupils will have the opportunity to learn how to work with a computer and to use the Internet for their homework, for enriching their general knowledge, or for communicating with friends. The official singing of the agreements for the installation of telecentres is the starting point of a series of information campaigns conducted by ANRC and by the mayoralties, who are to render the villagers aware of the communications services available in telecentres, as well as of the multiple ways in which they may use these services for the sustainable development of the local community.
“Information reaches villages with difficulty. This telecentre will be an advantage for the children in the commune, who are to use the Internet”, the mayor of the Brezoaele commune, in the county of Dambovita, Mr. Nicolae Tudorache.
On average, the cost of the installation and maintenance of a telecentre for a three-year period, as established by the tenders organised during October – December 2005, is 33,741.92 RON, i.e. 9,276 Euro. The telecentres will be installed by the companies designated upon the tender: Mobifon is to install telecentres in 11 localities, Romtelecom and, respectively, the National Company for Radiocommunications – in 9 localities each, Orange Romania, who has already installed five telecentres, is to install three more, and Euroweb, a new entrant in the telephony market – 1 telecentre.
The ANRC President established a direct – video and audio – Internet connection with the telecentre installed in Poiana Marului, county of Suceava, a village with 1281 inhabitants, having a school with 164 pupils. The children in the telecentre confessed that they were looking for gift suggestions on the Internet and intended to send e-mails to Santa Claus.
The list of the 70 localities for whose telecentres today’s tender has been launched is available here, on the ANRC website. All the mayoralties within whose area the selected villages lie expressed their interest in the programme initiated by ANRC. These localities have been selected based on criteria such as: the local authorities’ commitment to bear the telecentre operational expenses, number of inhabitants and a well balanced geographical distribution. Among the 70 localities envisaged by the tender, there are 7 localities for which no offer was assigned during the first tender organised by ANRC.
The documents providing the requirements and terms for submitting an offer in view of participating in the second tender for the installation of telecentres organised this year may be purchased from the ANRC headquarters, starting December 21st, 2005. Clarification requirements may be filed until February 13th, 2006; the deadline for submitting the offers is March 1st, 2006, 16:00. The offers will be opened on March 2nd, 2006, 10:00.