Nicaragua Rural Telecom

closed

The development objective of the Rural Telecommunications Project is to increase access to, and reduce costs of telecommunications services in rural areas of Nicaragua. Through its components, the project will: 1) expand the telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas, achieved primarily through a competitive award of funding, through an output-based aid (OBA) tender process to private-sector operators who will be responsible for installing, operating, and maintaining the new telecommunications systems on a commercial basis. This component will finance public payphones and cellular telephone extension, and, internet and tele-centers; 2) strengthen the institutional capacity of the sector regulator, and provide technical assistance (TA) to communities, through TA financing to continue the organizational restructuring of the Regulatory Agency, including strategic planning, measurement, management in areas such as regulation of competition, interconnection, price regulation, dispute resolution, consumer rights and complaints, cost accounting, and new trends of regulation; and, 3) finance project management, i.e., operational costs of the Development Division that will manage the implementation of the Project in TELCOR, and evaluate its economic and social impact. It includes technical assistance, computers and software, and vehicles. The operating costs of the unit, and, the cost the Project External Audit will also be financed under this component.