Macedonia Plans Nationwide Quantum Leap Toward Wireless

About 96 percent of the country's population lacks access to computers and the internet, but an ambitious government plan aims to reverse the trend and spur the economy.

1 minute read

April 4, 2006, 10:00 AM PDT

By David Gest

"...unfamiliarity with technology is common in Macedonia, a poor former Yugoslav republic where it is estimated that as little as 4 percent of the population has regular access to computers and the Internet.

Within a year, if the government has its way, those figures could be turned around with the creation of a wireless Internet network that will be the world's largest, covering the entire nation.

Supporters of the network believe that it will deliver more than just a means of mass communication. They hope it will provide new opportunities to ordinary people, schools and businesses in communities like Kanatlarci, one of hundreds of remote villages spread across this mountainous nation.

Government officials believe affordable access to the Internet could help transform a moribund economy, but that aim is proving difficult to realize."

FULL STORY: Macedonia Dreams of One Nation, Wireless

Monday, April 3, 2006 in The New York Times

Community / Economic Development Technology Europe

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