A4AI Achieves 50+ Members Within Three Months of Launch

The Alliance for Affordable Internet continues to grow stronger from month to month, and has now reached 52 members and local partners – including country governments, influential civil society and academic bodies and some of the world’s largest technology companies and networks. With the support of our broad and diverse coalition, A4AI is working to create the conditions for open, efficient and competitive broadband markets via regulatory and policy reform.

 

Since our launch in October 2013, we are delighted that 14 new organisations have joined the Alliance as members. These are:

 

• The Association for Progressive Communications (APC)

• Cambium Networks

• Digital Society Foundation

• Foundation Taiguey

• Ghana (Ministry of Communications)

• Gilat Satcom

• The GSMA

• Internet Sans Frontieres

• Internet Solutions

• Internews

• Mercy Corps

• Nigeria (Ministry of Communication Technology)

• Phase 3 Telecom

• World Pulse

 

A4AI has also joined hands with six local partners, with whom we will liaise and cooperate with during in-country engagements. These are:

 

• Center for Business Transformations (at Millennium Development Institute Ghana)

• Coolink

• Fantsuam Foundation

• Gambia YMCA Computer Training Centre

• Nigeria Network of NGOs

• Science Innovation and Information and Communication Technology Research Institution (SIITRI)

 

Another highlight of our first three months was the publication of the first edition of our annual Affordability Report in December at the ICTD Conference in Cape Town.  A key finding we highlighted is that for those living on less than US$2/day, entry-level broadband costs an average of 40% of monthly income, and in many countries this figure exceeds 80% or 100%. This underscores just how far we have to go to meet the UN Broadband Commission Target of entry level broadband priced at less than 5% of average monthly income in every country around the world.

 

We are also pleased that 2014 is off to a great start with the announcement of in-country work that will begin in the first quarter of 2014, with Ghana and Nigeria. A first multi-stakeholder coalition forum will be held in Accra, Ghana on February 11th.

 

A4AI is a diverse and global coalition of non-for-profit, public and private organisations, all committed to creating the conditions for open, efficient and competitive broadband markets via regulatory and policy and reform.  Initiated by the World Wide Web Foundation, the Alliance’s global sponsors are Google, Omidyar Network, the UK Department for International Development and USAID. Other founding members include Alcatel-Lucent, the Cherie Blair Foundation, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), US Department of State, Ericsson, Facebook, Ford Foundation, Internet Society, Intel, the Open Technology Institute and Yahoo!

 

The full list of our members can be found here: www.a4ai.org/members.