Intel's Barrett Has a Vision for India

The chipmaker chairman is teaming up with the U.N. and the Indian government to bring WiMAX connectivity to rural hospitals and schools

by Manjeet Kripalani

Just past 2 p.m. on Sept. 3, with the sun glaring overhead, there is a flurry of activity among the waiting crowds at Tindivanam Taluk Hospital in Tamil Nadu, India's southernmost state. Bugle players straighten the tassels on their instruments, line up on each side of a long red carpet, and start to blow. Drummers accompany them in a cheerful welcome. Women in gaily-colored saris wait in the heat, trays of rose petals in their hands, for the very important guest to arrive.

A convoy of cars arrives at the hospital's small gate and a tall, straight-backed American in a gray suit and white shirt steps out, not a bead of sweat on his brow despite the heat. Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel (INTC), allows his forehead to be smeared with the auspicious vermillion mark of the Hindu and rose petals to be thrown over him as he waits for the bugles to stop before walking toward the new room in the hospital that has been set up for telemedicine using Intel's WiMAX technology. A related portal has been created by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.BO), which partnered with Intel for the pilot project. Barrett is a crowd-pleaser. "Technology can bring improvements to all areas of life, especially the area of health care," says Barrett to the gathered crowd of more than 500 locals. "If we can make it happen in India, then it can happen in the rest of the world."

Making "it," i.e, broadband connectivity, happen in India is Intel's big goal. The company has bet its future growth on WiMAX, a technology that is often referred to as "Wi-Fi on steroids": a high-speed, wireless broadband technology that enables connections over far greater distances than conventional wireless and at far faster speeds. And developing countries—virgin markets without the historical load of copper landlines—are the perfect places for experimenting. That's why Barrett has added India to the list of more than 250 trials and commercial deployments in more than 12 countries worldwide, where he's running pilot WiMAX projects in schools and hospitals.

Bridging the Digital Divide

It's not just the massive business that could result that's on Barrett's mind—the effort is part of the company's pro bono efforts. Barrett is involved in the U.N.'s mission to bridge the global digital divide and use technology to reduce poverty. As chairman of the U.N. Global Alliance for ICT (Information & Communications Technology) & Development, he travels the world in a bid to persuade governments "to help increase access to and use of technology through public-private partnerships, local content, and electronic services." Part of that effort has been Intel's linking up with technologist Nicholas Negroponte, who has been developing a $100 laptop. Hardware is one part, but "connectivity," says Barrett, "is just as important." Homegrown Indian hardware companies like HCL Technologies (HCLT.BO), he notes, have a large opportunity here.

Intel is going it alone with some programs and partnering with local companies for others. It donated 500 computers to 50 municipal schools in Tamil Nadu, equipping them with WiMAX technology—an experiment Intel has already put in place in government schools in China, Egypt, Russia, Mexico, and elsewhere across the world. With partners, Intel is more creative. Tindivanam is a village of 70,000 that is represented in India's Parliament by Anbumani Ramadoss, who is now the country's health minister. Here, Intel partnered with a Bangalore hospital, Narayana Hridalaya, a pioneer in telemedicine in India, Tata Consultancy Services, the country's largest IT services player, and software startup Microsense to deliver Web-based telemedicine via broadband to the local 100-bed hospital that serves more than 200,000 people in the surrounding areas.