SOROS TO HELP RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES LINK UP TO INTERNET (fwd)

[Devin P Browne]

Thought this was interesting enough to share...

Does anyone out there know how progress is going with regard to Russian
internet access?  Do any/some/most university students have access?  Are
businesses jumping in there yet?

Devin


___________________________________________________________________________
Devin P. Browne                                   Clairton Education Center
Foreign Language Teacher                                 501 Waddell Avenue
dpbrowne+ at pitt.edu                                      Clairton, PA  15025
                                                             (412) 233-9200


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 96 21:08:44 EST
From: Center for Civil Society International <ccsi+ at u.washington.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <civilsoc at solar.rtd.utk.edu>
Subject: SOROS TO HELP RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES LINK UP TO INTERNET (fwd)


The following message is a crosspost from the Friends and Partners
Telecom list.  It was submitted by Greg Cole.

----------------------------------
SOROS TO HELP RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES LINK UP TO INTERNET. Billionaire
financier and philanthropist George Soros will give $100 million to help
30 regional Russian universities link up to the Internet, Russian and
Western agencies reported. The program was announced after a meeting
between Soros and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin in Moscow on 15
March. The Russian government will provide telecommunications resources.
In recent years, the Soros Foundation has donated $200 million to
support science, culture, and education programs in Russia. -- Penny
Morvant

(from OMRI news service)



  MOSCOW 3/15/96 -U.S. financier George Soros agreed Friday to spend
  $100 million ($US) to link 30 Russian regional universities to
  the Internet. Soros announced the grant after meeting with Russian
  Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The universities, all outside
  Moscow and St. Petersburg, will receive the telecommunications
  support needed to tap into the world computer network, said a
  statement from The Soros Foundation.

  Under the five-year program, the universities also will be able to
  develop programs in education, humanities, culture, law and social
  studies made possible through use of the Internet. The Russian
  government has agreed to supply the fiber-optic and satellite
  networks necessary to link the regional universities with Moscow and
  the outside world, the statement said.

  [based on Associated Press report]


   Greg Cole, Director
   Center for International Networking Initiatives
   The University of Tennessee System                Phone:  (423) 974-7277
   2000 Lake Avenue                                    FAX:  (423) 974-8022
   Knoxville, TN  37996                     Email:  gcole at solar.rtd.utk.edu