This past January the  Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) presented the draft of their National Broadband Strategy for public review. The strategy outlines a comprehensive plan for bringing communications services and ICT business development to all of Kenya. Expected to cost US$ 2.4 billion, 70% is budgeted for national infrastructure while the remainder will be [...]

On October 23 Integra wrapped up its technical assistance in Colombia, with the presentation of a strategic plan for Compartel, a telecommunications organization under the direction of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MINTIC). The “Broadband Strategic Plan: 2013-2017” (below, in Spanish), was developed by Compartel in collaboration with Integra’s consultants working under USAID’s [...]

Last month Integra representatives met with telecommunications sector leaders from 17 countries in Istanbul, Turkey.  Focused on sharing broadband strategies and implementations, the meeting provided a unique opportunity for Integra to discuss next steps with GBI clients as well as an opportunity to meet with other country representatives interested in collaborating with USAID. The meeting [...]

Earlier this month, Integra President Robert Otto and Managing Associate, Eric White, traveled to Colombia as a part of our work on the Global Broadband and Innovations Program. The two met with officials from Compartel, Colombia’s universal service administrator to begin exploring opportunities for rolling out new low cost, low power demand rural connectivity solutions. [...]

President Obama, last weekend, in prepared remarks, announced the creation of the Broadband Partnership of the Americas, an effort set to improve internet access across the Latin America and Caribbean region. The President was in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Sixth Summit of the Americas. The Broadband Partnership for the Americas (BPA) is designed to improve [...]

Integra, under its Global Broadband and Innovations program, is supporting the government of Ghana to better promote broadband Internet use throughout the country. Ghana has a long and successful record of promoting ICT use – it was one of the first countries in Africa to establish a Universal Service Fund (in 2005) and was recently [...]

This month Integra is embarking on a new project aimed at strengthening the enabling environment for telecommunications in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as those in East Asia.  By pursing partnerships with regional governance bodies and with national Universal Service Funds, Integra, under USAID’s GBI program, will facilitate the creation of [...]

According to an agreement signed today between the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Government shall assist CCK in developing strategies to stimulate universal access to ICT services in underserved and un-served areas of the country. The technical assistance covers the development of a national [...]

Under the GBI contract, Integra team members recently conducted a series of workshops in both Moldova and Ukraine, to support the governments of each country in their assessment and planning to introduce Universal Service Funds, and to promote Broadband ICT development.  These countries, like much of the former Soviet Union region, have established a strong [...]

Representatives from GBI traveled to Bogota this month to participate in a stakeholder’s workshop, held by Compartel, the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology’s universal service administrator. The February 15th workshop was designed as a means of gathering stakeholder input to Compartel’s strategic planning process. Compartel is planning to restructure itself to effectively address the [...]