Explore Asia CAN Info-Tech 2012

Means to Diffuse ICT Knowledge

By TC Correspondent

The 18th edition of “Explore Asia CAN Info-Tech 2012” organized by Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) was innagurated by playing a prerecorded video message from Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattrai. He said that the country has to reduce a huge digital divide gap and adopt ICT as a tool for development. The fair is believed to be one of the biggest IT shows of Nepal. According to the exhibitors at the fair, they are focusing on raising awareness of the usage of ICT products rather than only sellingthem. “People must be aware of product and its usage for a company to sell its products and sustain” said Suresh Kumar Karna, President of CAN. Ajay Sadewra, Managing Director of Explore Asia said that the events like this are a branding opportunity for companies. The main attraction of the fair has been internet packages, tablet PC, laptops, anti-virus and power solution. According to Karna, the fair has 224 stalls including companies related to hardware and maintenance, power solutions, mobile accessories, dealer and distributor, Internet Service Providers, printing services, telecommunication, training and colleges, software and solution.

The various stalls from national and international companies have been offering attractive schemes, discounts, additional gifts and products at reasonable prices during the fair. The fair featured the world’s cheapest tablet PC, Aakash-2. The major crowed pullers for tablet PC were Gizmos Nepal and Explore Asia. Gizmos Nepal opened the booking of Aakash-2 with a price tag of Rs 6000. Explore Asia launched the 7-inch tablet PC with the storage capacity of 32 GB and priced Rs 12,000 on Thursday. The internet service providers (ISP) on the fair are focusing more on the optical fibre and wireless technologies. They are trying to attract more subscribers introducing faster technology at cheaper rates. Mercantile Communications is offering consumer broadband for single user starting from the price of Rs 700 per month. Classic Tech and Websurfer are offering Wi-Fi basic with speed of 192 kbps for Rs 500 per month. ISPs are waiving installation expenses for new connections during the fair. Subisu Cable Net is offering free installation worth Rs 500, cable Worthing Rs 3,000, free subscription for 60 days or free wireless router for the advance payment of one year. Netmax, Cherry World Communication, Vianet Communications, and Radius Communications are other participating ISPs of the fair. Laptops are the most sold item in the fair. Laptop stalls were crowded on Saturday by students.

More than two dozen companies of laptops are participated in the fair. The sellers are providing free gifts including carrying bags, headphones, pen drives and mouse on the purchase of laptops. Malla Baba Exim, one of the distributors for Dell, is offering free Sony Ericsson mobile handset or Dell laser printer on every purchase. “The majority of the buyers of laptop are students” said Neeraj Chachan of Malla Baba Exim. Anti-virus sellers are also offering discounts at the fair. Sagar Software and Trading is offering a 40 per cent discount on the purchase of Kaspersky Anti-Virus. Tara International is offering 50 per cent discount on Bitdefender Anti-Virus, Internet Security and Total Security. CAN is expecting more than 500,000 visitors during the fair. According to Karna, they are inviting 25 thousand official guests from all around the world. The title sponsor of the fair is Explore Asia. Other sponsors are Neoteric, WebSufer, Belkin, Technos Corporation, HUAWEI, Tara International, and S-Power BPE.