Intel said today it plans to spend $1 billion to promote Internet use and computer training in developing countries.
The project, which Intel has dubbed "World Ahead," aims to bring high-speed wireless Internet access to 1 billion people who can't get online, while training 10 million teachers to use technology in education.
Intel said it would back those goals with $1 billion of spending over five years.
The project includes Intel's ongoing effort to promote cheap PCs that it hopes will find enthusiastic buyers among schools and villages in developing countries where most people cannot afford to buy their own personal computers.
It also extends Intel's push to popularise a new wireless technology called WiMax, whose fast speed and long range has led many companies and industry groups to think it is ideal for poorer regions.
Intel, which makes the microprocessors that power most personal computers around the world, has grappled with slowing growth in PCs as wealthy markets in the United States, Europe and Japan become saturated.
