Microsoft to provide cheap computers in RI

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 03/04/2006 7:33 AM  |  Business

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Given Indonesia's low income per capita, one of the options for providing access to computers is through financing support.

Giant software maker Microsoft Corp., through its Indonesian arm, Microsoft Indonesia, is planning to adopt this strategy and provide ""affordable computer"" packages, plus genuine software, to millions of Indonesians this year, one of its senior international officials says.

""We are looking at ways to offer personal computers (PCs) -- maybe including Internet access -- on an monthly installment basis,"" visiting Microsoft Corp. senior vice president Will Poole said Friday.

Affordability has led to relatively low computer penetration in Indonesia, with the rate currently standing at only 4 percent, according to a report from the International Telecommunications Union.

Poole explained that Microsoft would be collaborate with a number of consumer finance firms in order to reach people who would normally have no access to credit.

The scheme had already been tried out in Brazil, where Microsoft says a third of the applicants were those from the middle- and lower-income brackets ""who could not afford computers otherwise.""

In Indonesia, the scheme would offer computers, complete with Microsoft original software, at a 40 to 60 percent discount on the normal price.

""A customer would only have to pay up to Rp 300,000 a month on a 24-month installment plan,"" he said, adding that the scheme would also focus on providing access to those living in ""second tier"" cities.

Since 2003, Microsoft Indonesia has been collaborating with non-governmental organizations on a similar scheme involving the establishment of community training and learning centers (CLTCs).

As of today, there are 28 CLTCs nationwide, giving access to the Internet to 80,000 rural residents. The program has also provided basic computer training to 14,000 people.

Poole said the new scheme would be implemented under the umbrella of Microsoft's global initiative to provide ICT access to rural communities.

""We would also want to partner with Indonesian software vendors to produce software that is specifically tailored to providing solutions for education here,"" he explained.

In addition, he said that Microsoft would launch a ""PCs for Education"" campaign, as part of which locally-built computers bundled with Microsoft programs, including children's education software, would be introduced to the market.

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