Yahoo, Intel announce cooperation to benefit Vietnamese

Hanoi (VNA) - Intel and Yahoo! Southeast Asia announced a cooperationprogramme to develop Internet access points in Vietnam 's public places.

Under the programme, Intel will put into use 600 agents and introduce 12,000 Internet access points and coordinate with Yahoo! to renew equipment, assist software services based on Yahoo! foundation and other infrastructureservices in the Southeast Asian country.

Internet access points joining the programme will be listed on website and connected with owners of other Internet access points. They will also be provided with free Internet management software. Around 1,000 Internet access points, mainly in big cities, are expected to be included implementedin the programme in the first year.

Yahoo! Vietnam general director Vu Minh Tri said that as Vietnam has a high growth rate of Internet users, his firm is expanding its involvement in the country. The partnership helped promote the information technologydevelopment and benefits Vietnamese users, he said.

Intel's survey revealed that Internet access points in Vietnam 's public places record an average growth rate of 15 percent, accounting for 60percent of the total users.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam currently has almost 20 million Internet users, more than 6 million of whom are internet service subscribers, representing 23.5 percent of the country's population The current rate is forecast to rise to 35 percent in 2010.-Enditem