Pacific Islands Telecommunication Association
PITA Vice President adamant on smart funding for accelerating digital adoption in rural and underserved areas
November 15, 2022
At the closing session of the ITU/PITA Smart Islands, for digital adoption at community level, held on 11 November 2022 at the Holiday Inn in Suva Fiji, the PITA Vice President, Mr Phillip Henderson was adamant that with smart funding, local telcos could become very instrumental in accelerating digital adoption to rural and underserved communities
While having just rolled out broadband to all the Outer Islands of Cook Islands, providing Tier 2 connectivity for enterprise users such as Government, Phillip said that rural program without external funding support pinches on their overall capability to accelerate digital adoption. He hoped that local telcos could get access to smart capital funding, smart grants or smart funding partnerships.
PITA is keen to explore with relevant agencies on this, discussing digital gaps for potential projects, funding frameworks, and areas of consolidating strengths. Interests may be forwarded to the PITA Manager.
