RIYADH (WiMAX Day). During a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this week, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett pledged the technical support of Intel for on-going efforts to build WiMAX networks in KSA. Barrett also launched a pilot project for e-learning at a school in the Gulf Kingdom.

The e-learning project will take place at Bishr Ibn Elbaraa School, a public grade school for boys in Riyadh. The pilot will provide for connectivity and notebook computers in two classrooms.

In a press statement, Barrett said that  “investments in education are important to the future, in the Arab world and around the globe.”

Intel also will provide technical support to Saudi Telecom (STC) and the Knowledge Economic City (KEC) of Medina, which are jointly deploying a WiMAX network.

The Intel Chairman was travelling throughout the Middle East in his capacity as chairman of a United Nations panel on technology, and on behalf of the Intel World Ahead Program, a five-year USD 1 billion initiative to aid and promote faster access to information and communications technology.