Local access
Peter Bloom highlights trends in spectrum regulation, the importance of empowering communities to govern their own telecommunications, and the need to see spectrum as “a potential to communicate over the airwaves” rather than a commodity to be owned.
A critical policy and regulatory issue for community networks is that of access to and use of spectrum. This crucial issue was addressed by the roundtable “Spectrum for Community Networks: A 'Must' That Is Hard to Get”, co-organised by APC and the Internet Society, which took place on Day 1 of the IGF 2018.
The 43 country reports and eight thematic reports in this year's GISWatch focus on community networks, defined as “communication networks built, owned, operated, and used by citizens in a participatory and open manner.”
In this session, participants analysed the evolution of the Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion(s) process and showcased successful initiatives, as well as barriers and challenges to the half of the world that is still offline.
This study aims not only to highlight the potential of community networks for expanding connectivity, but also to define the regulatory elements that might optimise their development and analyse the regulatory experiences that have allowed removing obstacles to community networks in Latin America.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be the venue where APC launches the new edition of its annual publication Global Information Society Watch. This year, the theme of the report is community networks. Join us for a conversation with the authors on 13 November from 13:30 to 15:00!
Like other common goods, spectrum has historically been subject to gradual curtailment and private ownership. There are opportunities to change this scenario, which will depend on a new understanding of what the spectrum is and how to use it, as well as participation by civil society in debates.
Welcome to the eleventh monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks.
Welcome to the tenth monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks.
What are the most relevant changes in the telecommunications landscape and their implications for achieving universal, affordable access to communication in Africa? This was the focus of a workshop in Durban organised by APC and the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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