The Connectivity Declaration Seeks Universal Internet Access

On Friday, the leaders of 193 nations meeting at the United Nations formally adopted the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, which sets 2030 targets for fighting inequality, protecting our planet, and ending extreme poverty. The agreement includes a Connectivity Declaration demanding Internet access for all in the Least-Developed Countries by 2020.

The Connectivity Declaration:

"I believe: Internet access is essential for achieving humanity's #globalgoals When people have access to the tools and knowledge of the internet, they have access to opportunities that make life better for all of us. The internet is critical to fighting injustice, sharing new ideas and helping entrepreneurs create more jobs. But right now half the people on this planet don't have access, especially women and girls. The internet belongs to everyone. It should be accessible by everyone. I call on leaders and innovators from all countries, industries and communities to work together as one to make universal internet access a reality by 2020, as promised in the new Global Goals. Lets #CONNECTTHEWORLD to achieve our #GLOBALGOALS
"

The Connectivity Declaration has already been signed by: the Action/2015 coalition, Charlize Theron for Africa Outreach Project, Judith Owigar for AkiraChix, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Bill and Melinda Gates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Richard Branson, Erik Hersman for BRCK, Niall Dunne for BT, Danny Sriskandarajah for Civicus, Denis O'Brien for Digicel, Jeff Sachs for Earth Institute, Hans Vestberg for Ericsson, Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook, Hugh Evans for Global Citizen, Arianna Huffington, Josiah Mugambi for iHub, Ashish Thakkar for Mara Group, Mo Ibrahim for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Bono for ONE, David Soloff for Premise, Project Everyone, Nik Hartley for Restless Development, Carolyn Miles for Save the Children, Shakira, George Takei, Chris Anderson for TED, Daudi Were for Ushahidi, Jimmy Wales, Omoyele Sowore for Sahara Reporters, Cobus de Swardt for Transparency International, Kathy Calvin for the UN Foundation, and Oluseun Onigbinde for BudgiT.

http://connecttheworld.one.org/

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Ericsson: IT is Key to UN Sustainable Development Goals

Information technology and universal access to the Internet are key to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, according to a study by Ericsson and the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

The U.N.'s new agreed Sustainable Development Goals call for several breakthroughs by the year 2030, including an end to extreme poverty and hunger, while improving access to health care and education, protecting the environment and building peaceful and inclusive societies.

"We believe the new goals need to leverage existing and widely deployed technologies, but also that future developments in ICT - including next-generation mobile broadband, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, 3D printing and others - will provide the tools for unprecedented advances in health care, education, energy services, agriculture, and environmental monitoring and protection," said Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson.

"We have seen that a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration leads on average to one percent sustainable GDP growth. However, in some countries, the increase is even higher: up to 5 or 10 percent. That can make a real difference to people's lives," stated Vestberg.

The 21-page report is here:

http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/ict-and-sdg-interim-report.pdf

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Sprint to Sit Out 600 MHz Incentive Auction

Sprint has decided not to participate in the FCC's 600 MHz incentive auction next year.  In a blog posting, the company said its current spectrum holdings "are sufficient to provide its current and future customers great network coverage and be able to provide the consistent reliability, capacity, and speed that its customers demand."

“Sprint’s focus and overarching imperative must be on improving its network and market position in the immediate term so we can remain a powerful force in fostering competition, consumer benefits and innovation in the wireless broadband world,” stated Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure.  “Sprint has the spectrum it needs to deploy its network architecture of the future.”

The company also noted its efforts to increase coverage and capacity by densifying its network and increasing the number of cell sites using its existing spectrum.  Sprint is already deploying new technologies, such as carrier aggregation, that unlock the potential of its strong 2.5 GHz spectrum position.

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-statement-on-the-incentive-auction.htm

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