Ticon to finish feasibility study for Open World National Project by end of year
Kyiv, November 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – JV Technologies and Investment Consulting (Ticon) is planning to finish work on a feasibility study for the Open World National Project by the end of the year, the company's director says.
"The feasibility study will be finished by the end of December. In January-March [2012] a pilot project will be launched," Director of JV Ticon Volodymyr Matiushko said during a press conference hosted by Interfax-Ukraine on November 7.
According to him, JV Ticon has finished developing a preliminary feasibility study, according to which the total cost of the whole project amounts to UAH 4.794 billion, of which UAH 2.504 billion is to be spent on the network roll-out, and over UAH 2 billion on technical assistance to schools, the construction of a data center, and the creation of the network access device (a netbook, laptop or a smartphone).
According to a prior feasibility study, the LTE (Long Term Evaluation) technology was selected for technical implementation in the Open World project, but Matiushko said that a converged IP network could be created.
"It will be not only 4G but also a converged IP network. In some places optical fiber [will be used], in some places Wi-Fi is already available and in some places the 4G network is being constructed," the Ticon head said.
He also said that it is not planned to create a general national network, but instead separate zones for educational establishments will be created. According to Matiushko's evaluations, only 20% of the LTE network will be used for the educational project, and the rest could be used for commercial needs, which, according to him, could be of interest to communications providers.
Head of Alcatel-Lucent in Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia Alexey Khakhlyuk, who also attended the press conference, said that his company was also interested in the project and is planning to participate in a respective tender.
Matiushko also said the network access device would cost about UAH 2,000.
"We carried out a sociology study. Some 70% of parents are ready to spend such an amount on money on netbooks for their children," he said.
The head of JV Ticon added that 25% of the costs of the national project would be funded from the national budget (UAH 1.2 billion), while the rest of the funds would be raised from credits and private investments. According to him, last week the project was presented at the national projects road show in London, and talks on crediting by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are being held.
JV Ticon was selected to develop the feasibility study for the Open World National Project in a tender organized by the State Agency for Investment and National Projects Management (Ukrnatsproekt).
As part of the Open World national project, it is planned to introduce multimedia lessons in Ukrainian schools, supply all schoolchildren with computer technologies and construct the national 4G network for use in the education sphere. It is planned to digitalize all educational materials for schoolchildren and provide access to the materials through the 4G network from netbooks.