ICT policy

Kenya Communications Amendment Act (2009): Progressive or retrogressive?
Kenya Communications Amendment Act (2009): Progressive or retrogressive? 23 September 2009 Rebecca Wanjiku

This report unpacks this mixed reception to the Kenya Communications Amendment Bill (2007), outlining the media’s objections as well as the government’s response, and contextualising the tension between the two historically. At the same time, it asks whether the sector’s positive response to the Act was misplaced, given some worrying inconsistencies and omissions.

A review of telecommunications policy and challenges in Rwanda
A review of telecommunications policy and challenges in Rwanda 23 September 2009 Albert Nsengiyumva and Emmanuel Habumuremyi

This report examines the implementation of telecommunication reforms in Rwanda, with particular attention paid to broadband issues.

Bringing affordable telecommunications services to Uganda: A policy narrative and analysis
Bringing affordable telecommunications services to Uganda: A policy narrative and analysis 23 September 2009 Wairagala Wakabi

This report analyses the challenges faced by the Uganda telecommunications sector in creating a healthy market structure, encouraging efficient and affordable services, and delivering services to the poor. It is divided into three parts.

Milking a cow you don’t feed: Is Uganda starving telecoms growth through high taxes?
Milking a cow you don’t feed: Is Uganda starving telecoms growth through high taxes? 09 September 2009 Wairagala Wakabi and Alan Finlay

Analysts argue that governments in cash-strapped developing countries often tread a tightrope between a need to shore up the state coffers for public spending, and a responsibility to address critical telecommunications access for the poor. Telecommunications make money – lots of it – and many governments know that this money can be used to fund basic services, such as water, housing and el...

Battle for control of the internet in Peru
Battle for control of the internet in Peru 30 July 2009 Jorge Bossio and APCNews

In Peru companies like Claro or Telefónica ignore rules and regulations when the time comes to sign the contract with the end user. Moreover, they reserve the right to block certain types of internet traffic, like voice over internet, infringing on a principle referred to as “net neutrality”. In one of our latest investigations, APC analyses this principle and illustrates it with examples...

Broadband in the Andes: Alternatives to the free-market model
Broadband in the Andes: Alternatives to the free-market model 16 July 2009

The Andean region has some of the lowest fixed telephone line, mobile telephony and broadband penetration rates of all Latin America, the continent with the starkest economic disparities in the world. In the 90s, Andean countries adopted new liberalisation and privatisation policies in order to attain universal access. Almost 20 years later, these promises have not been fulfilled. APC studied e...

Congo –  internet access for a day’s wage
Congo – internet access for a day’s wage 16 July 2009 LC

In the Congo, people are paying for a service that cannot even meet their needs. Poor connectivity and staggering costs that can be as high as USD 2 make it difficult to promote widespread use of the internet. In a country where people earn as little as three or four dollars (US) a day, it is impossible for 97% of Congolese to even access the internet. And those who do, are not guaranteed to g...

Ecuador: Inputs from civil society for the formulation of the Communication Law
Ecuador: Inputs from civil society for the formulation of the Communication Law 09 July 2009 Raquel Escobar Guevara

The objective of this action was to include civil society’s perspective on the right to communication in Ecuador’s new communications law. This law, which should be approved in 2009, comes out of the Andean country’s new constitution. Civil society actively participated in the constitutional process and was successful in incorporating aspects related to the right to communication. The pr...

Peru: Fund for the Investment in Telecommunications
Peru: Fund for the Investment in Telecommunications 09 July 2009 Laura León Kanashiro

This document studies the case of the Telecommunications Investment Fund (FITEL), the Peruvian government agency that provides universal access to telecommunications in rural areas, privileging social concerns. The fund’s development during its 15 years in existence has meant going from mere infrastructure availability to projects implemented from a socio-technical perspective, where, in addi...

Peru: Public strategies for new technologies in rural areas
Peru: Public strategies for new technologies in rural areas 09 July 2009 Roberto Bustamante Vento y Maicu Alvarado V.

This advocacy action was carried out by CEPES, AndinaTIC member in Peru, compiling and systematizing documents on Peruvian government ICT projects. This task supplemented the organisation’s ongoing research on connectivity strategies in rural contexts. CEPES questions the governmental initiatives which tend to focus on access to infrastructure. It highlights the importance of taking the comm...

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