Access

As part of its 70th anniversary, Freedom House has published its 2011 report on Freedom on the Net. The publication includes in-depth and detailed country reports on restrictions to internet rights, as well as a global overview of freedom on the internet.

African countries have committed to migrating to digital broadcasting by June 2015. It will be a costly process and it is not clear who will benefit — or where the resources needed to make the transition will come from. A new website provides independent information for policy-makers about making the transition and reports on digital migration in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal.

The Internet Rights and Principles Coalition officially published its Internet Bill of Rights on March 31st as part of their second expert meeting in Sweden.

The problem of internet access in a country the size of Brazil is as complex as its geography or its population. The government is currently working on a national broadband plan which would establish high-speed fibre optic connections in the major cities. In order to reach the most distant towns, signals transmitted over the air will be used (through waves that circulate on a set frequency or s...

For about 75 years up to the sixties, nearly all telecommunications services in the country were in private hands, distributed among hundreds of local operators. Telephony authorizations were issued and controlled by the state governments. In this process Companhia Telefônica Brasileira emerged as a major operator of local and long-distance services, covering about 80% of the telephone termina...

The study, conducted by the Youth and Participatory Politics research network, found that contrary to commonly held beliefs those who used new media and social networking were more likely to be politically engaged.

Prior to 1994, spectrum in South Africa was managed by the state body responsible for its implementation. Thus broadcast spectrum was managed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and telecommunications spectrum managed by the state telecommunications provider, Telkom. This was generally uncontentious because, prior to the rise of mobile telecommunications and wireless broadband,...

The “APC Action Research Network” (ARN) is a new initiative by APC funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC), with the overall goal of building and strengthening research capacity in the existing APC research community, and growing the current network of researchers that do national and regional advocacy in initiatives led by APC. In the context of the ARN pr...