In the lush, green Indian countryside, the latest high-tech telecom technology is meeting tradition and culture. Ericsson has started a unique trial project for HSPA in the Tamil Nadu province of southeastern India. Eighteen villages and 15 towns outside Chennai are involved in the country's first 3G project.

The project was initiated and is run by Ericsson India, together with several partners. There are no operators involved; instead Ericsson's partners are organizations and companies that can help facilitate the important services the HSPA network will bring to this rural region. The partners enable the community to get access to e-learning, online local information, e-farming and telemedicine.

"We want to show that it is possible to create an ecosystem that empowers people," says P Balaji, vice president of marketing and strategy, Ericsson India. "With HSPA the people living in rural areas will be able to be a part of modern life."

Ericsson's partners in the project are non-governmental organization Hand in Hand, telecom platform company One97, healthcare group Apollo Hospitals, e-learning company Edurite and TV networks CNN and Cartoon Network. They all got involved because they believe in the possibilities of HSPA. Even the government is behind the project as the 3G spectrum license for the trial has been issued by India's Department of Telecommunications.

"The inhabitants of the project's towns and villages are living in the countryside far from the amenities of the city," says Kalyani Rajanaman, project director at the Child Labor Elimination Program at Hand in Hand. "For example, the fast mobile broadband in the community centers will help residents fill out important government forms without having to travel into town - one day of travel means a loss of one day of salary. This makes a big difference in people's lives."

And Dr. Ganapathy at Apollo Hospitals agrees, saying: "The distances are great in this kind of area, and for us to be able to send our telemedicine van to the villages makes it possible for patients to get examination and evaluation. From a distance, specialist doctors can get the correct information via the high speed internet connection."

Mats Granryd, Managing Director of Ericsson India, says: "Building an efficient and affordable WCDMA/HSPA rural broadband can help serve as a blueprint for the widespread introduction of internet and broadband connectivity in the future."