Microsoft to sign schools deal today

By Alastair Otter for Microsoft SA

Johannesburg, 21 May 2002

Microsoft will today sign an agreement with the minister of education Kader Asmal that will give all schools in the country free access to a selection of the company`s software. The signing of the deal follows three months after the initial announcement of the free software offer by Thabo Mbeki during his opening of Parliament speech.

Microsoft will alter its existing schools licensing agreement to reflect the latest offer to government. Products in the current schools licensing agreement include Windows 2000 Server, Office, Visual Studio, Encarta and some Microsoft Press titles.

Shortly after the initial announcement of the offer to schools, Garry Hodgson, Microsoft SA`s customer and partner loyalty manager, said the products included in the schools licensing agreement would form the base offering to schools, although "the exact contents may change if schools particularly request other software".

The initial licence signed by schools will be valid for three years after which it has to be renewed. Microsoft says the offer will be available to schools in perpetuity and that there should be no reason to alter the agreement in the foreseeable future.

The original offer of free software was made by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to Mbeki during the World Economic Forum in New York earlier this year.

The offer has sparked debate in government circles, particularly among advocates of open source software. The initial announcement also followed just days after the release of a paper by the state-appointed National Advisory Committee on Innovation on the need for use of open source in state structures.

Responding to criticism that the move was a marketing ploy aimed at extending Microsoft`s dominance of the software market, the company said education in the country is in urgent need of attention and "we can`t wait until all players in the market are equal before we do something".

The agreement will be signed in Cape Town today between Asmal and Mark Hill, MD of Microsoft sub-Sahara Africa.