Goan channel has issues with the Cyberage PC

GOA

June 6, 2006

The Cyberage PCs continue to be a bone of contention between the Goa IT
channel and the Government in the state. The state government has decided to
continue with the Cyberage scheme, where PCs will be provided at very low prices
to students as a bid to improve IT penetration in the state. Currently, there is
a requirement for about 22,000 PCs to be supplied to the high school students in
Goa as part of the scheme.

However fulfilling this requirement has given rise to some concerns to the IT
channel in the state. Said Dhiren Mehta, President of the Goa IT Channel
Association, "Supplying PCs at a mere Rs 1,000 implies that our business
goes down considerably. For a market that survives on peripherals and services,
it is very difficult to break even or compensate this loss. Added to that the
channel is not strong enough or big enough to supply the numbers required and
has to depend on outside suppliers from Mumbai and Poona many a time."

What bothers the channel most is that in spite of the impending issues, the
channel is really helpless against the government decision. All they can do at
this point in time is to watch and hope that the scheme is restructured to
benefit the IT dealer community, laments Mehta.

The Cyberage PC project is a government initiative, which began as an attempt
to take computers to schools in Goa two years ago. Under this scheme, high
schools students would get a PC virtually free, paying a nominal sum of Rs
1,000. The PCs are supplied by the IT channel to principals of the various
schools who then pass it to students.

Computer professionals in the state have questioned the scheme and have asked
whether it would not make more sense to hand out PCs to schools, to be used
collectively. There are other questions on whether the computers been delivered
as promised, and on schedule?

Also concerns have been expressed as to how one can ensure that the students
are not taking the computers merely because they're cheap? Although most people
agree that taking computers to schools in Goa is a good example, they have begun
to wonder whether a bad implementation of the same would mean a dream gone sour.