Public policies of connectivity in Latin America in the context of COVID-19

This article analyses the digital policies introduced in different Latin American countries during the first three months after the outbreak of COVID-19 reached the region (March–June 2020). This analysis has a three-fold objective: (a) to give an overview of the status of connectivity in five big Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico; (b) to study comparatively the actions and regulations implemented on connectivity matters by the governments of each country to face the pandemic; and (c) to provide insights in relation with telecommunications policies in the context of pandemic emergence at a regional level. To that end, this study will consider legal regulations and specific public policies in this field, official documents from the public and private sectors, and statistics on ICT access and usage in the region.

The importance of circumstance

Access to and affordability of digital technology for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups is an ongoing concern in an Australian context, however the digital needs, issues and barriers for consumers who are homeless are largely neglected in this literature. This paper presents findings from a research project on mobile phones and the internet in the lives of people experiencing homelessness and engages with some key issues of digital exclusion arising in the context of a general shift in connectivity to mobile media and the push by the Australian government to reform service provision around these changes. The paper argues for the need to recognise the ways that life situations and circumstances of hardship, such as homelessness, factor into the patterns of mobile and Internet connectivity, creating unique issues of digital access and equity. It argues for knowledge of these differences to inform digital delivery of government services and approaches to telecommunications policies and assistance programs, and puts forward a number of recommendations based on a study of 95 adults, families and young people experiencing homelessness which was carried out in Sydney and Melbourne in early 2014.

Accumulating phones: Aid and adaptation in phone access for the urban poor

This study draws on participant observation and interviews with low-income adults in Chicago to show how the poor stay connected to phone service and mobile Internet through the possession of multiple phones, including those subsidized by government aid. The “accumulation” of phones by individuals is widely observed, though underexplored in scholarship. Popular media coverage in the US frames the possession of multiple phones by people in poverty as criminal or excessive. In contrast, this study identifies three functions for phone accumulation as a strategy for maintaining phone access: to back up other phones, to build up capacities across phones, and to share phones with others in need. Each function responds to struggles unique for the urban poor as mobile technology advances and public phone access declines. Extra phones insure against regular disconnections due to loss and theft of devices and limits on subsidized service. Active service on one device combines with Internet functionality on another to approximate a single, high-end device and service plan. Subsidized phones help overcome the hesitation that poor people feel in lending out their devices to others in need. Accumulation thus contributes to the goal of securing reliable phone access for low-income Americans. There are limits to accumulation as a strategy for maintaining access, which result from the prevalence of inferior hardware, limited service plans, and lack of trust among strangers. Telecommunications policies should adapt to the needs of low-income phone users with accumulation in mind. The article concludes with recommendations for adapting policy to the needs of low-income phone users.

An Introduction to Telecommunications Policy in Canada

This paper provides an introduction to telecommunications policy in Canada, outlining the regulatory and legislative environment governing the provision of telecommunications services in the country and describing basic characteristics of its market for retail telecommunications services. It was written in 2017 as one in a series of papers describing international telecommunications policies and markets published in the Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy in 2016 and 2017. The discussion focuses on broad trends and major players and identifies key regulations and policies in place in 2017, with information drawn primarily from regulatory and policy documents. The paper does not offer an exhaustive description of all telecommunications policy issues, markets and providers in Canada.

An Introduction to Telecommunications Policy in Canada

This paper provides an introduction to telecommunications policy in Canada, outlining the regulatory and legislative environment governing the provision of telecommunications services in the country and describing basic characteristics of its market for retail telecommunications services. It was written in 2017 as one in a series of papers describing international telecommunications policies and markets published in the Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy in 2016 and 2017. The discussion focuses on broad trends and major players and identifies key regulations and policies in place in 2017, with information drawn primarily from regulatory and policy documents. The paper does not offer an exhaustive description of all telecommunications policy issues, markets and providers in Canada.