By Ronald James P. Panis
Computerworld Philippines
July 23, 2009

THE Intel and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology or CICT’s joint initiative to upgrade espousal of personal computers locally has just undergone an upgrade.

Presently dubbed as “Nettop Ng Bayan 2.0,” this more than a year-old partnership of the Philippine government’s lead ICT agency and chip manufacturer giant carries nettops (simplified desktops purpose-built for Web surfing, streaming videos, researching online, or even playing online games, among others) that are now powered by Intel’s Atom N720 processor. Primarily found on mobile devices, the Atom processor is lauded for providing high performance at low power consumption.

The program proponents also bolster this energy efficient platform by replacing the CRT monitor previously used during the first phase of Nettop Ng Bayan with a 15” widescreen LCD. These, while bundled with a 80GB hard disk, a 1GB memory, keyboard and mouse as well as options for additional memory, accessories and operating systems – all of which at an SRP as low as P10,800, a similar pricepoint as that of last year.

Noting the technology touch up, Intel Technology’s Philippines country manager Ricky Banaag believes how it aids their goal to “provide a solution to help bridge the digital divide [locally] by increasing the rate of PC adoption in urban and rural areas.” With the lower costs proposed by the Atom processor and the LCD monitor, Banaag explained that they expect to attract first-time PC buyers as well as mature buyers and avail themselves of Nettop Ng Bayan 2.0 units, hence helping boost PC penetration in the Philippines.

“We feel that first time PC buyers will use this for educational purposes, or communicating with relatives abroad, and so forth. This is a cost-efficient, affordable vehicle to do that. [The same goes] for mature buyers as well, who are looking to add another PC at home for the kids… This feels like a relevant solution for such situations,” Banaag said.

The Intel executive also noted that they intend to be as broad as possible when it comes to their target market.

According to CICT Chairman Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, albeit the mobile phone industry continues to be a “runaway success story here” and the Philippines remains the SMS capital of the world, Internet penetration is among the country’s biggest challenges. “We remain to be one of the lowest in the region and the whole world. Broadband penetration is much worse. Tied-in to this is PC penetration – [we are also among the lowest] in Asia Pacific,” Roxas-Chua reported.

“Nettop ng Bayan 2.0 comes into play here because the target is to make PCs more affordable… Hopefully if the price continues to drop, PCs will be a staple in every home,” he said.

Business development manager for Intel Carlo Subido also highlighted the importance of Nettop ng Bayan 2.0’s inexpensive tag, which he opined as similar to the price of new cellular phones, a 21-inch TV or even a Magic Sing microphone for karaoke sessions, a Pinoy pastime. “What we need to tell the public is how useful it is to have a PC at home. They don’t want to buy PCs not because it is not affordable – but they think it is not worth it. We are hoping that people will be attracted by the price and be curious enough to buy,” Subido noted.

“There are a lot of benefits that can mitigate the cost of having a PC. The more people are aware of the benefits, the more investments will be made. We are also hoping to drive the costs so low that they will finally invest on it,” Roxas-Chua added.

The CICT Chairman also pointed out that Nettop Ng Bayan 2.0 fits like a cog in the agency’s ICT advocacies, particularly that of the Convergence 2009 Road Show, which aims to promote the Next Wave Cities within the Philippine Cyber Corridor. “The whole point of the Road Show is to create an ICT ecosystem [in the Philippines]. We want to bring Internet access to the community and one of the projects is the Community e-center program, which will provide online access to people for free or for a very cheap fee. Nettop Ng Bayan 2.0 is going to be part of this initiative because we want to make PCs more affordable so that everyone who want to be connected can afford to do so,” he said.

With a beefed up number of reseller-partners nationwide, from last year’s 10 to a current total of 26, Banaag indicated they are ensuring a nationwide coverage for this initiative.

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