At Qualcomm, we are focused on the development of technologies and products that change the way people communicate, and therefore the way we live and work. As Qualcomm employees worldwide strive to bring their inventions from the drawing board to market, so too are we bringing the technologies we develop into the hands of doctors, teachers, farmers and many more who will benefit significantly from wireless connectivity and services.
One way Qualcomm pursues this objective is through our Wireless Reach™ initiative - a global program based on the premise that access to advanced wireless voice and data services improves people’s lives. Wireless Reach projects are implemented at regional and national levels, deploying wireless technologies for the socio-economic development of underserved and rural communities. By working with our public and private sector partners, the projects create new ways for people to communicate, learn, sustain the environment, access health care and reach global markets. Currently, Wireless Reach has 37 projects in 22 countries, four of which are in India.
Wireless Reach has collaborated with the Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organization working towards reaching the goal of achieving universal education, to enable web-based education over broadband connectivity to 40 schools across four states. In another project, working with Tata Teleservices and the Nasscom Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to leverage ICTs to transform lives, Wireless Reach has provided Internet connectivity to 65 Village Resource Centers across nine states that serve the needs of local communities in the areas of education, health care and entrepreneurship. In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, we have partnered with Project Concern International, a non-profit organization committed to providing health and poverty solutions, to develop a pilot that helps poor woman entrepreneurs access business and market information through mobile applications.
Our very first Wireless Reach project in India is now commercially available to the public. Wireless Reach funded the development of an application that is positively impacting the lives of fishermen in the tsunami-affected Tamil Nadu region through the use of 3G CDMA technology. The Fisher Friend application runs on low cost CDMA handsets and provides vital safety and livelihood information to fishermen at sea including updates on weather, wave height, potential fishing zones and market prices in the local language of Tamil through an easy to use menu-driven interface. Now the Fisher Friend application can be downloaded from the Tata Zone for Rs 30/month (approximately US $0.60). The application is a product of a joint initiative between MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, a non-profit organization; Tata Teleservices, the wireless service operator; Astute Systems, the application developer and Wireless Reach.
Fisher Friend helps these fishermen catch more fish, and saves them both time and money. Devanathan, a local fisherman in Puducherry, praised Fisher Friend claiming there are days when his catch has gone from averaging Rs 200-300 a day (approximately US $3 to $6) to Rs 500-800 a day (approximately US $10 to $16). Fisher Friend is a prime realization of our goal at Qualcomm to improve people’s lives by delivering quality communication.
Post by Bill Bold
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