Access

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.

In an interview with APC, Maicu Alvarado and Gabriela Perona of CEPES share experiences of using the spectrum with a positive social impact and offer guidelines for thinking collectively about policies for managing the spectrum that aim for more than simply economic growth.

In Venezuela, community uses of the spectrum are privileged at the cost of generating uncertainty in the private sector. This discourages major investments in telecommunications and a wider discussion of the subject, according to Sandra Benítez and Ermanno Pietrosemoli of EsLaRed in this interview with APC.

Management of the spectrum in Colombia is migrating towards a more flexible and participatory model. Nevertheless there is still a need for greater involvement of community media and social organisations as a counterweight to the voice of the commercial operators in discussions on the management of the spectrum, according to Lilian Chamorro of Colnodo, in this interview with APC.

In Latin America case studies were done in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. This report reviews and summarises the most relevant aspects of these studies.

In Colombia, several government initiatives aim at broadening telecommunications access for the whole population through spectrum. Colombian civil society should make the most of recent opportunities to lobby for the design of a management model that is more efficient and that emphasises the social value of the spectrum say Lilian Chamorro and Ariel Barbosa, authors of a new stud...

Argentina is one of only three countries in the world that privatised spectrum. However the recent renationalisation of its control, together with the participative drafting of a new radio broadcasting law and a national plan for internet access, make this an auspicious time

Opportunities are emerging in the Peruvian political scenario to liberalise spectrum frequencies for open and community use. However academic institutions and civil society must participate get more involved in the policy and project debates say Maicu Alvarado y Gabriela Perona in a new report for APC.