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          Kerry Calls for Push to Boost Connectivity in Poor Countries

   by Nike Ching

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is urging governments and industries
   to create enabling environments that spur connectivity, while promoting
   a U.S. plan to bring 1.5 billion people who lack Internet access online
   by 2020.

   "Out of every five people in the world, there remain three without
   Internet access in 2016.  It is unacceptable," Kerry said Thursday at a
   World Bank event.

   He said the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation is providing
   up to  $171 million for a low cost and rapidly scalable wireless
   broadband network in India.  He added, "We are announcing more than a
   billion dollars in U.S. government financing and loans with our
   development agency partners."

   Last September, during the U.N. General Assembly, the State Department
   launched the "Global Connect Initiative," aimed to bring an additional
   1.5 billion people online by 2020.

   Kerry said Washington plans to work with international development
   banks to help funding infrastructure in poor countries.

   The United States plans to designate "digital economy officers" to 275
   American embassies and diplomatic posts in the globe to identify and
   break down barriers to help people become connected, according to the
   State Department.

   A World Bank report said for every 10 percent increase in broadband
   access, a developing country can see up to two percent rise in GDP.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-internet-poor-countries/3285838
   .html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-internet-poor-countries/3285838.html