Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son (fifth from left) and Deborah Jacobs, director of Global Libraries initiative of the Bill&Melinda Gates instruct children to access the internet. Photo ictnews.vn

LAM DONG (Biz Hub) — Rural people in 16 remote Vietnamese provinces now have free access to the Internet at public libraries following the installation of more than 4,600 computers and broadband Internet access equipment.

The installation was finished as part of the second phase of the project named Improvement of Computer Usage and Public Internet Accessibility in Viet Nam.

Under the project, each provincial library has been equipped with 40 computers, and 10 computers have been set up in each district library. Communal libraries and post offices have each received five computers.

Besides this, printers, projectors, headphones and other subsidiary equipment have also been provided.

The first phase of the project was implemented between December 2011 and June 2013 in 12 cities and provinces, offering Internet access to people at 637 access points.

The project, sponsored by the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will run from 2011 to 2016. With a total cost of US$50.50, it aims to reduce inequality in Internet access and the gap in information technology development between urban and rural areas. — VNS