It's a deal!

The ICT Ministry finally signed a US$32.8 million contract yesterday to buy the first batch of 400,000 computer tablets from a Chinese supplier.

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Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap, right, who signed a contract with Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development chairman Liu Jun, left, to buy computer tablets from Scope to be distributed to Prathom 1 students in the new term. The contract ceremony was also joined by Chinese ambassador to Thailand, Guan Mu, middle. TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD

ICT Ministry finally inks deal for tablets

Srisamorn Phoosuphanusorn

The Information and Communication Technology Ministry finally signed a US$32.8 million contract yesterday to buy the first batch of 400,000 computer tablets from a Chinese supplier.

The deal with Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development follows a one-and-a-half-month delay.

The company must deliver all the tablets within 60 days of the contract signing or "face a fine for each day's delay", ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap said.

Gp Capt Anudith declined to specify how much the daily fine is, but said it is in line with government guidelines.

Any fine payments would be drawn from Scope's bank guarantee – an amount equal to 5% of the contract value.

The ICT Ministry will place a new order for another 530,000 tablets after the first batch of Scope PCs passes government quality control standards, he said.

The tablets will be given to all Prathom 1 (Grade 1) students in both government and private schools in July, Gp Capt Anudith said.

The first lot of 2,000 tablets will be delivered to the ICT Ministry next week.

Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development, the maker of the Scopad brand, offered a price of US$81 (about 2,400 baht) per unit for the government's One Tablet per Child project.

Scope's Scopad SP0712 model features a seven-inch touchscreen, a 1.2 GHz single core CPU, 1 GB RAM, a storage memory unit of 8GB, Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, and a GPS navigation system.

Scope offered to include a two-year warranty for the devices and a one-year warranty for the battery.

Scope chairman Liu Jun said he was confident the company would meet the government's delivery deadline as it has the capacity to produce up to 20,000 tablets a day.

An ICT Ministry source said they are working with several insurance firms to come up with a warranty model to charge 300 baht a year as an insurance premium.

contract – an official written agreement สัญญา
distribute – to give something to a group of people แจกจ่าย
ambassador – a senior official who lives in a foreign country and represents his or her own country there ทูต
ink – to sign a document, especially a contract เซ็น(สัญญา)
deal – a formal agreement, especially in business การตกลงซื้อขาย, ข้อตกลง,
batch – a group of things or people dealt with at the same time or considered similar in type ชุด, กลุ่ม
supplier – a person or company that supplies goods  ผู้จัดหาสิ่งของให้,  ผู้ผลิตสินค้าและวัตถุดิบ
delay – when you have to wait longer than expected for something to happen, or the time that you have to wait การเลื่อน, การเสียเวลา
deliver – to take goods, letters, etc. to the people they have been sent to  ส่ง
fine – an amount of money that you have to pay because you have broken the law or an agreement ค่าปรับ
decline – to say politely that you will not accept something or do something ปฏิเสธ
specify – to explain something in an exact and detailed way ระบุ  ชี้แจงรายละเอียด
in line with – following a rule or system; also in accordance with and consistent with สอดคล้องกับ
guidelines – official instructions or advice about how to do something สิ่งที่ช่วยแนะแนวทางให้ปฏิบัติ
bank guarantee – a written promise arranged through a bank, given by a company that something you buy from the company will be supplied within a particular period หนังสือค้ำประกันของธนาคาร
quality – the standard of something when it is compared to other things like it; how good or bad something is คุณภาพ
standards – a level of quality that is normal or acceptable for a particular person or in a particular situation มาตรฐาน, บรรทัดฐาน
lot – a group or set of things or people ชุด,รุ่น
feature – to include someone or something as an important part ทำให้เด่น
touch screen – a computer screen which allows you to give instructions to the computer by touching areas on it จอสัมผั
single-core (processor) – a single computing component with one independent actual processor (called "a core"); a dual-core has two and a quad-core four  
storage – the putting and keeping of things in a special place for use in the future, in this case the storing of information การเก็บ
operating system – a set of programs that controls the way a computer works and runs other programs ระบบปฏิบัติการซึ่งควบคุมการทำงานของคอมพิวเตอร์
navigation – of the process of finding a path or direction to get somewhere การนำทาง
warranty – a written agreement in which a company selling something promises to repair or replace it if there is a problem within a particular period of time การรับประกัน
device – a machine or piece of equipment that does a particular job อุปกรณ์ เครื่องมือ เครื่องจักร
confident – certain; having trust in people, plans, or the future มั่นใจ
deadline - a time or day by which something must be done เส้นตาย
capacity – the amount of something that can be produced  ความสามารถในการ (ผลิต)
source – someone who gives information แหล่งข่าว
insurance – an arrangement in which you regularly pay an insurance company an amount of money so that they will give you money if something you own is damaged, lost, or stolen, or if you die or are ill or injured การประกัน
premium – an amount of money that you pay once or regularly for an insurance policy เบี้ยประกัน