PARINTINS (WiMAX Day). Last year Intel and its partners installed a high-speed WiMAX wireless network on the remote island city of Parintins in the heart of the Amazon. The outcome? Over 100,000 residents were privy to resources that they never had before. The network served students, patients, doctors, teachers, and other personnel at a primary healthcare centre, two public schools, a community centre and Amazon State University. “Intel opened a window in the middle of the Amazon Forest for the people of Parintins to see the world,” said Mayor Frank Luis da Cunha Garcia, earlier this week. 

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett was in Parintins the first week of December to view the progress of the city’s digital makeover and to launch some new initiatives. “Intel planted the seeds for digital inclusion in Parintins a year ago by putting the technology resources in place,” said Barrett, who visited the schools and the health clinic during his stay. “It’s inspiring to see local municipalities and community leaders expand these efforts. Together we’re creating a sustainable model that can be deployed across Brazil and the world.”

The technology, along with donated telemedicine equipment and computer labs, also from Intel, helped save lives. At the Centro de Saude Irmao Francisco Galliania clinic, doctors were able to perform, via the Internet, real-time consultation with specialists and perform remote diagnostics through video teleconferences. This helped nearly a hundred of the clinic’s patients; giving them access to specialists in other cities.

Because of the success of Intel’s project, municipal leaders have decided to expand the telemedicine facility in the clinic. Intel and its partner, local PC manufacturer CEE, will provide the necessary computers and technical support at the clinic, as well as in the city’s new library and in an additional community center, in the coming year.

Overnight, Brazil has become a highly competitive market for WiMAX and Intel’s project is an example of how WiMAX technology is having a positive impact on remote areas by offering a bridge to cross the digital divide.

During his visit to the country, Barrett met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brasilia to discuss, among other things, the progress achieved in Parintins through public-private partnership and the need for local governments to view Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a national priority.

Barrett, who also chairs the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communications Technology and Development, is currently in Brazil finishing a global tour focused on digital accessibility that spanned 17 cities in Asia, Africa and South America in the past 100 days.