The "game changer that gave ordinary Fijians access to all aspects of the telecommunications revolution."
The number of Fijians with Internet access will rise by more than 60,000 by the end of this year as more of the Government’s Telecentres come on line.
The PM says the number includes 5,000 additional school children who will benefit from regular access to the Net at more than 20 community Telecentres all over Fiji.
The PM was speaking at the opening of two more Telecentres today in the Central Division – at Baulevu and Tailevu. Both centres have been established in local schools (Baulevu High School and Tailevu North College) and will provide a range of telecommunications services for hundreds of residents of the surrounding areas.
They will be used by schoolchildren during school hours and by the rest of the community after hours and on weekends.
The Telecentres are part of the Government’s telecommunications revolution that has already provided Fijians with mobile phones and cheaper calls through increased competition. “Many of you – the ordinary Fijians who are the backbone of our nation – have never had Internet access before. We have bridged that divide – the digital divide - and have given everyone using these Centres the opportunity to gain knowledge and access the same services,” he said.
The Prime Minister urged schoolchildren in isolated areas to use the Internet to broaden their horizons. “You can immediately be part of a bigger world, a world of knowledge and of contact with people in other places. You may come from a small place but it is One World and you are now fully part of it”, he said.
The PM also urged parents to take full advantage of the Telecentres, which give Fijians with family members overseas the opportunity to speak to them via web chat services such as Skype.
As well as Internet access, the Centres provide a range of computer-related services, including the ability to type and copy documents and scan documents for transmission via email.
The Prime Minister described the Telecentres as a game changer that gave ordinary Fijians access to all aspects of the telecommunications revolution that was transforming people’s lives the world over.
“We want to empower ordinary Fijians, to give them the basic things they need to improve their lives and the lives of their families. This includes better roads, better access to electricity and water and better access to telecommunications”, he said.
PM Bainimarama says his Government has promised the nation better services and is fulfilling that promise. “We are delivering a world of difference for ordinary Fijians. We don’t just talk about providing services. We deliver”, he added. -- Based on MOI release.
19 comments:
Great - more people will be able to seek out alternative views via the net rather than the self censored pro military propaganda in the Fiji media....or will filters be in place ?
Well done.
The Bainimarama governamnt also promised accountability and transparency - why all the secrets on government accounts, salaries, auditor general reports ? It just makes everyone think government is hiding lots of things.
Great work!! Not everyone in Fiji can afford internet at home and providing a public service such as this will be of great value to the community.
Actually, the silent majority(pro govt) will eclipse you anti bloggers who cant see past their noses. I am looking forward to this. Thankyou Frank for giving ordinary Fijians the opportunity to tap into the world wide web. Great work, keep going.
yes and i would encourage them to look at developments overseas in those countries that have held coup perpetrators to account, even some twenty years after the events. Hurrah!!! Prisoner loses a leg through a beating, Fr Barr nealt gets arbitrarily deported for making a joke and Fiji gets the internet, so its alright then.
Yes thankyou 'President for Life' Bainipajamas of the Fiji Banana Republic.
ooh nasty! Temper temper. Or is it frustrated loss of power for noses in old troughs?
somewhere to spend all that money sent back from overseas to be able to facebook all day......because what the frik else is there to do, there are no jobs.
There are jobs but you now have to show merit. No more gravy train for the old boys and girls from one ethnic group.
Finally, someone did something above the digital divide. What did the elites do, used their digitals to make themselves rich. Ha.. keep crying because the power is being transferred to the people.. finally!!
You mean like the i-Taukei military govind?
how truly naive to think that power has been transferred to the ordinay people. All that has happened is that power has just gone accross to the a very specific group of goons and their cronies, and you have NO say.
the 'silent majority' will still be the same 'silent najority' that couldn't care less even before the coups.
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What an amazing world of information the internet will open for the ordinary folks. So glad its happening.
Really nice to know that our future is a bright one.
An enlightened and well informed Fiji.
Thank you my MAN VB.
I think he means you and your ilk !!
OK got it. you men like those who set fire to women and rape them on buses?
Well informed? Some maybe. The tsunami warning went out to contracted clients (Post Paid) of both Digicel and Vodafone up almost two hours after the event in the Solomon Islands. Post-paid clients (who are on contracts which they should be able to enforce at Law) were informed at 1558hrs: two minutes prior to the Second Wave predicted to arrive. The fact that it did not, is neither here nor there. So what of the safety and security for all post-paid clientele of the two Mobile Phone companies? Pre-paid were "pre-warned". We still appear not be on a level-playing field for all? How is that? The mind-set is warped. Is it incurable? And why would Dubai-based pilots be those who ensured we knew at 1415 by mobile calls and texted messages? Do they have a higher priority for our safety?
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