Ecuador's Plan to Bridge the Digital Divide

The international mass media is reporting that government leaders in Ecuador seek to implement an innovative means of decreasing the digital divide. New contracts are currently being negotiated with foreign mobile telecommunication companies that are doing business in Ecuador. A clause in the contracts is asking for 1% of revenues to be donated to a fund that would provide mobile-phone service to the poor. The telco industry's initial response to what they described as a selective corporate tax, was not very encouraging.

Are the rest of the World's countries going to follow Ecuador's lead in trying to reduce the gap in the digital divide? And how will the much publicized ad-supported free mobile phone platform fit in with the possible above mentioned government actions?

In light of the fact that The World Information Society Report exclaimed that the mobile telephony holds the greatest potential to bridge the digital divide, I feel that society can fulfill their moral obligation to assist the less unfortunate by encouraging their respective governments to exercise similar types of subsidized programs.  As pertaining to the second of the two previous question, it is my belief that the ad-supported free mobile phone platform shall become a pillar in the infrastructure of the bridge that crossed the digital divide.

As a Bryn Mawr College student social activist, I am campaigning for the use of the ad-supported free mobile phone platform to decrease the digital divide. For anyone that is interested in joining this social cause action, please contact me via my e-mail address on this web site, send an e-mail to panacea.digital.divide@gmail.com <mailto:panacea.digital.divide@gmail.com> or you can look me up on Facebook and join the Free Cell Phone For All group.