Portugal Telecom continues to consolidate its presence and its stake on Brazil. In order to contribute to digital inclusion and massification of mobile broadband access in the Brazilian market, PT aims to implement a pilot-project similar to the e.escola program.
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Visiting Brazil, Zeinal Bava reinforces
PT’s commitment to invest
in the Brazilian market |
It should be recollected that e.escola and e.escolinha programs consist of an offer of PCs to teachers and students under exceptional commercial conditions. This project has already allowed the delivery of laptop PCs with mobile broadband access to over 300,000 students and teachers in Portugal and aims to attain circa 1 million users. Currently, TMN leads the e.escola offer in Portugal, having provided over 210,000 PCs since the beginning of the program.
The e.escola project has already surpassed all expectations and it was one of the key factors for Portugal’s jump, in just one year, from the 13th to the 2nd position in the European ranking of laptop PC penetration.
“We believe that promoting the distribution of laptop PCs with broadband access is an important step towards accelerating the democratisation of the Information Society and the success of this program in Portugal consolidates this conviction”, said Zeinal Bava, PT’s CEO.
Recognised as an important cornerstone in Portugal Telecom’s growth strategy, Brazil was chosen as the target for the development of this pilot-project, whose strategy is being studied so as to include as many people as possible. According to Zeinal Bava, “our aim is to repeat the same success that we had in Portugal and elsewhere. As an example, the Namibian initiative, dubbed ConnectED, was also very successful. We hope to reach a 25,000-target in terms of commercialised PCs very soon”.
One of the goals of the Vivo Network Digital Inclusion program is to increase the access of public schools to new mobile communication Technologies. This program’s launch ceremony took place last 27 October, being present Zeinal Bava, CEO, PT, Roberto Lima, President, Vivo, Shakhaf Wine, President, PT Brazil, as well as Mário Lino, Minister of Public Works, Transportation and Communications of Portugal. The moment was marked by the signature of a protocol with Professor Ennio Voss Public School, south of São Paulo, according to which Vivo assumes an agenda of commitments to this institution over the next five years. The first initiative within this partnership, managed by the Vivo Institute, was marked by the delivery of 25 Magalhães PCs.
“The Vivo Network Digital Inclusion program is totally aligned with Vivo’s mission, which is “to create conditions for people to relate more and more to each other, anytime anyplace, and to be able to live in a more human, safe, intelligent and funny way”, said Roberto Lima.
Dedic Corporate University: a unique project
Besides the launch of the Vivo Digital Inclusion Network program, a visit to the premises of Dedic University also took place on the same day.
About two years ago, this PT subsidiary, one of the major contact centres in the Brazilian market took the first step towards implementing a unique project: the launch of a corporative university. The goal of this project was to subsidise superior education to Dedic’s employees and thus contribute to their personal and professional growth. More than 2,500 employees have already benefited from this initiative, reaching circa 3,000 in 2009.
“We believe that employees are our competitive advantage. Thus, investing on qualification and on education are crucial cornerstones for our growth and for our success. For us, this is the guarantee of a customer care marked by excellence and by the satisfaction of our customers”, said Paulo Neto Leite, President, Dedic.
“We are very proud of this initiative from Dedic. Historically, PT has always contributed to information and knowledge democratisation in every country where it is present, in different ways. We believe that this university is a good example of our responsibility and commitment to our employees”, explained Zeinal Bava as he highlighted PT’s investment on education-oriented initiatives worldwide.
The Dedic Corporative University was developed in cooperation with Fundetec (Foundation for Technology, Education and Communication Development) and allows company employees to resume their studies. In a first phase, this initiative covered only the city of São Paulo. The success of this initiative led to extending the project to company units located in Brasília, Campinas and Londrina. “Subsidising education is the greatest contribution that we can give to building a better society for all in the future”, stated Dedic’s president. “Dedic now has 14,000 employees and we are very committed to them all and to career development within our sector”.
Zeinal Bava, Shakhaf Wine, Paulo Neto Leite and Mário Lino visited the São Paulo unit of the Dedic Corporative University in the month of celebration of its first graduate class. “The delivery of the first certificates is a reason for much happiness, both for company managers and for the students themselves, who have surpassed themselves and are an example for their colleagues today”, declared Paulo Neto Leite.
According to Viviane Neves, process analyst, one of the first Marketing graduates, “this is a dream come true, a dream which seemed quite far away. I am very happy and I recommend it to all my colleagues. We cannot often see the opportunity that lies within our reach. It is important to persevere and to believe in your own dreams and in achieving success”. “The university is a unique opportunity. I have waited for 20 years to complete my studies due to financial limitations. Now I feel fulfilled and I hope to develop myself in this area. College is an opening for change and for development for everyone to enjoy” stressed Regina Célia Teixeira, a Human Resources student.
In 2008, besides Dedic’s employees, 10 youngsters from the Uniys Arena Academy also attended this university: a partnership that enlarged the opportunities for these youngsters.
The Vivo Network Digital Inclusion program was presented in Salvador on 28 October. This presentation was marked by the delivery of 25 Internet-ready Magalhães PCs to Anísio Teixeira Public School. The Vivo Institute will manage the project in this school, a driver of contributions and promotion of social networks for this operator.
There are already two public schools in Brazil, equipped with Internet-ready Magalhães PCs. These deliveries represent a step forward towards implementing the Vivo Network Digital Inclusion program, which aims to increase public school access to new mobile communication technologies.
