Local access and community networking
On 13 November, APC held its official launch of the 2018 edition of Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Paris. Moderated by APC’s Kathleen Diga with statements from Chat Garcia Ramilo and Valeria Betancourt, the session brought together many of the authors who contributed to the report, which was themed this year on community-owned networks for the provision of physical communications infrastructure. It is a comprehensive collection containi...
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) welcomes the initiative by the IGF’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) to further develop the IGF’s intersessional work on “Policy Options for Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion(s)”. We appreciate the opportunity to share our perspectives on some of the key aspects oriented to building an enabling environment for access to the internet. Focusing on examples of how access supports achievement of the Sustainable Develo...
In Notice 1003 published in Government Gazette No. 41935 dated 27 September 2018, the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) invited the public to provide written comments on proposed policy and policy directions to the authority on licensing of unassigned high-demand spectrum. Our submission is premised on the supply-side challenges identified in the White Paper to transfo...
There is a profound connectivity “gap” in many parts of the world, leaving over half the global population without internet access – 3.58 billion people currently have internet access, out of a total of 7.7 billion. This connectivity gap exists in urban, rural and remote unserved and underserved areas of many countries, particularly developing and least-developed countries. One very criti...
Developing connectivity projects that are “for the community with the community by the community” is crucial as we work to connect the next billion, stressed Jane Coffin of the Internet Society (ISOC) during today's meeting of the Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity (DC3). Established in 2015 to provide a space for collaborative, multistakeholder conversation on community network de...
This year’s Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) focuses on community networks. Community networks are “communication networks built, owned, operated, and used by citizens in a participatory and open manner.” This is a starting point. As the 43 country reports gathered here show, in practice, “community networks” can be hybrid systems, with different political and practical obj...
In 2015, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) started a community-driven process to showcase successful initiatives that address how the next billion people can be connected to the internet. The process, which focuses on four UN Sustainable Development Goals – Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy (SDG 7), Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), Industry, inn...
Like every year, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be the venue where the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) launches the new edition of its annual publication Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch). This year, the theme of the report is community networks, understood as “communication networks built, owned, operated and used by citizens in a participatory and open m...
Electromagnetic spectrum is ubiquitous. Like other common goods, spectrum has historically been subject to gradual curtailment and private ownership. At the same time, it continues to be invisible in political discussions. There are currently opportunities to change this scenario, which will largely depend on a new understanding of what the spectrum is and how to use it, as well as significant ...
Welcome to the 11th monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks. 1. Call for grants The GSMA Connected Society will be launching its Connect Society Innovation Fund for Rural Connectivity this October 2018. With support from the UK Department for International Development, the program fund aims to support innovative new technology solutions for connecting unserve...
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2018
Unless otherwise stated, content on the APC website is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)