1.69M devices to be bought at 4 auctions - The Nation

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TABLET COMPUTERS

SUPINDA NA MAHACHAI
THE NATION November 16, 2012 1:00 am

The government will purchase 1.69 million computer tablets for first graders and first-year high school students in four lots through e-auctions.

Education Minister Pongthep Thepkanjana said Dr Olarn Chaiprawat has been appointed chairman of a panel tasked with writing the terms of reference for the e-auctions. He said that since the purchase involves a large number of tablets, the government had decided to hold four e-auctions to be held on the same day. Both Thai and foreign companies will be allowed to take part.

"Dividing the auction into four lots will encourage more companies to bid, making the auction more competitive and enabling the government to get the lowest price,'' Pongthep said.

The Education Ministry's reference price in last year's purchase of tablets was Bt2,470, and it hopes that this year it can get a lower price. The Basic Education Department (BED) has been instructed to draft a time frame for tablet procurement that will ensure that students receive the devices before the opening of the 2013 school year.

Pongthep dismissed as impossible a report that the government might this year provide all students in every grade with computer tablets, by seeking foreign loans and grants. If there was such a plan, he said, it would have to be implemented in 2014 because such a mega-project requires much planning. Pongthep nevertheless said if there was any change in the government's existing policy, the plan could be scrapped in order to cater to the new policy.

BED secretary-general Chinnapatr Phummirat said the tablets would mostly be supplied to students of schools under the jurisdiction of the Education and Interior ministries. Of the 1.69 million tablets, his department will purchase 1.2 million for schools under the jurisdiction of the Education Ministry, of which 574,826 are for first graders and 656,884 are for first-year high-school students. The department has been allocated Bt4.4 billion to be used not only for purchases but also operational expenses.

Of the funds to be used in purchasing 1.69 million tablets, Bt933 million is allocated from the Interior Ministry, Bt5.4 billion from the Education Ministry and Bt72 million from other government agencies.

Anek Ratpiyapaporn, adviser to the BED, said the department has identified the specifications of the computer tablets for both grades with a mean price of Bt2,800, which is higher than last year because of higher specifications. The department wants the tablets to have both back and front cameras. Although the department did not require a camera function in the tablets last year, all tablets had front cameras but they did not function effectively.

Anek reasoned that having cameras is useful for some activities, for instance allowing students to scan bar codes. The department also wants to increase RAM from 512MB to 1 gigabyte and increase the speed from 1.2GHz to 1.5GHz. The size of the screen remains the same. The specifications however are yet to pass public hearing procedures.

Meanwhile, D Com Group executive Wikorn Wiwitthakunaporn said his company was waiting for clarity on the bidding for the new lot of tablets, which was likely to give an opportunity to Thai firms. He said the company had marketed tablet products including Bt3,000 tablets, and was confident that post-sales service was an area in which Thai companies had the upper hand over competitors because most already had post-sales service centres.

The bidding model that would most benefit Thai operators was bidding by educational zone or by school, as used in the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec)'s computer procurement method, Wikorn said. "We're not worried about hardware because, at this price range, the products would come mainly from China, but the difference is the post-sales service, in which local brands would have the upper hand over foreign companies," he said. He expected the new tablet lot would require a budget of Bt2 billion, like the previous tablet lot - but still a lot cheaper than the Bt4 billion required for the Obec computer procurement two years ago.

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Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/1-69M-devices-to-be-bought-at-4-auctions-30194451.html

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