APC wrote an analysis of the latest communication’s law in Ecuador for the newsletter Digital Rights, focusing on both problems and opportunities that its implementation will imply.

Ecuador has approved a communications law that recognises the right of universal access to information and communication technologies (ICT) and fairly apportions the frequency spectrum; on the other hand, it poses a threat to freedom of expression.

The people of Ecuador are working together to get the government to change a new regulation that will allow the state to collect users’ personal data without a warrant.

Lack of knowledge about the ways that policies relating to the spectrum affect people’s lives is one of the primary obstacles for the participation of civil society in the regulatory debate. Marco Navas Alvear promotes solutions for this problem in this interview by APC as part of the “Open spectrum for development” project.

APC’s submission for Ecuador to the Universal Period Review process, with support from CIESPAL and Radialistas Apasionadas y Apasionados, highlights the critical importance of the Internet for human rights, as well as social and economic development.

Ecuador’s new constitution has created opportunities for democratising the spectrum based on a renewed vision of rights, and clearer definitions of the competencies required by the bodies that formulate policy and regulations. The priority now are civil society discussions on the legal reforms the new constitution demands says Marco Navas Alvear.

The new Constitution of Ecuador, which was passed in October of 2008, now legitimises the use of wireless networks as a way to achieve universal access. In the debate leading up to the new constitution, the wireless networks were able to boast low cost, sustainability and using existing and free waves to the communities and organisations using them. In an attempt to connect paper to practice, APC conducted a study on the possibilities and the political and regulatory context of this type of network, and explore a few success stories that took place over the last few years.