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Libya reportedly plans to purchase 1.2 million low-cost laptops, after signing a deal recently.
Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) nonprofit association, told the New York Times that the deal had been reached in Libya on Oct. 10.
Libya will pay the OLPC $250 million, according to the Times. In return, it will receive 1.2 million OLPC computers for students, one server per school, a team of technical installation advisers, satellite Internet service, and other network infrastructure.
The deal had not been confirmed by either Libya or the OLPC by publication of this story.
The Times article was, however, listed among recent OLPC news items on the organizations website.
Assuming the Times report is accurate, Libya becomes the fifth country to express serious interest in the inexpensive student laptop.
The others are Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand. Prior to this deal, Brazil, with a reported interest in buying a million of the laptops, was the country that appeared to have the most real interest in these systems.