[Telecentres] Re: Basic Telecentre Items - avoid open source debate

[Taran Rampersad]

ashish Saboo wrote:

>Toby, 
>   Taran has reminded us all well in time, the Debate is more on Telecentres. 
>  I am not siding camps - open source or proprietary. But I am highlighting issue raised by some members as why Telecentre have not yet organised. 
>  Here in India, in some urban areas the density of ICT center is as high as 2 centers in every square kilometer despite that all self-funded ICT centers have failed to organize & the biggest hindrance is the way they all operate. In order to make there service pricing point acceptable to their customer base. They are forced to ignore and infringe intellectual properties. 
>  
>
This is a very valid point. The wholesale and retail PC market in
Trinidad and Tobago is quite similar. I'd be interested to find out how
hardware is dealt with elsewhere outside of the developed world - I
spent some time wholesaling computer parts in Trinidad and Tobago

What software is used? Not the brand name - rather, what functionality
does the software have? Are we just talking about standard office
software and internet access? If we are, then the legal solution that
meets the business need is readily apparent.

>  From my database of voluntarily registered ICT centers, claim an average hourly rate of a mere 0.30 US dollars. 
>
In Trinidad and Tobago, CyberCafe/Telecentres charge approximately 1
US/hr, sometimes higher. Most cybercafes do have at least some licensed
software, though. The real problem in Trinidad and Tobago is affordable
bandwidth.

>Now that is low and barely meets the retail operation cost. Add to it if the entrepreneur opts to buy licensed software’s his capital investment will increase by 120%. Thus most opt for the easy way out.  Using pirated copies may ensure a quick way to make his business sustainable but at the same time the entrepreneur has cut himself off to participate in the main stream of prospective opportunities.  
>  
>
And the entrepeneur cannot receive legal and timely updates such that
the systems are as secure and error-free as possible. Telecentre
software must be secure... more so than home user software.

So we're beginning to see examples of how the choice of licensing
affects the Telecentres... But what I really got from this was...

(1) What software functionality is required of Telecentres? Let's work
with a generic Telecentre and specialize from there?
(2) What hardware is necessary?
(3) Bandwidth. I had almost forgotten this one.

-- 
Taran Rampersad

cnd at knowprose.com

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