Cisco is teaming with the poverty-ravished country of Ethiopia to wire the entire nation for ‘Net access within three years.
The government has begun laying 6,200 miles of fiber-optic cable and invested around $40 million in developing its ‘Net infrastructure. It plans to increase its number of ‘Net access lines from the current 30,000 to 500,000 in six months.
More than two-thirds of the 71 million Ethiopians live in rural areas. Many can’t read or write, let along use a computer. Government officials hope access to the Internet will promote e-schooling and e-healthcare.
“Poverty is rooted in lack of knowledge,” Anthony Vonsee, general manager of Cisco Systems, said. “Internet technology is all about the distribution of knowledge.”
Via USA Today
