Govt. commits US$11mn for 100 new infocenters

Venezuela's national IT center (CNTI) is to invest 18bn bolivares (US$11.3mn) in the construction of 100 new community Internet access centers, local daily El Mundo reports. The project involves the design of centers with up to 60 workstations and 3-4 radio centers, where users would have access to radio and television channels - an important service in Venezuela, where the greater part of the land area is not accessed by conventional power and communications networks. The government already has 243 such centers, known as "infocentros", in operation around the country. According to an IDC study commissioned by the government, the centers report collectively about 4,230 visits and 663 new users on a daily basis. The study also revealed that 80% of users are students under 25.