Telecom leader Ericsson has launched the 'Gramjyoti Rural Broadband Project' in the village of Vadugambadi in Tamil Nadu, 60 kms from Chennai (India).
The pilot project seeks to introduce the benefits of WCDMA/HSPA technology in rural India and connect communities to high-speed internet services. Villages in the Gramjyoti project area will be able to use broadband applications like telemedicine, e-education, e-governance and access high speed Internet services on the 3G platform. Ericsson has partnered with the Apollo Hospitals for telemedicine services through which a doctor sitting in Chennai can attend to patients in the villages via a video uplink. A fully equipped mobile medi-van can also be operated across villages on a rotational basis. The mobile community centres set with help of NGO Hand-in-Hand can be used to access forms for registration, ration cards, land lease deeds that can be submitted to the District Collectorate. Ericsson along with One97 has enabled farmers to get access to real-time prices of crops and commodities and view information on local weather, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
