El Salvador
1,647
Connected schools
3,893
Unconnected schools
3G and 4G cover most communities following investments in the National Backbone; however, connectivity remains low. Furthermore, 43% of schools currently do not meet the Government’s target coverage of at least 10 Mbps.
Number of connected & unconnected schools: Government of El Salvador
El Salvador has over 10 years of experience implementing projects to support school connectivity and device distribution
Investing in High-Quality Connectivity
El Salvador has invested in increasing national bandwidth from 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps, with 29 substations connecting the entire country. As part of the FOMILENIO II project, the Government plans to connect schools to fiber through the national Connections and Telecommunications Company (COATL) Network for National Connectivity.
Government Program to Support Device Distribution
Through the One Girl, One Boy, One Computer program (founded in 2015) the Government aims to equip pupils with relevant skills needed in today’s digital world through the distribution of devices in schools. To date, 119,504 devices have been distributed, with devices in 98.7% schools and additional investment on digital content, teacher training, and electricity supply.
Giga can support the Government to close connectivity gaps quickly and support existing digital learning initiatives. Some of Giga’s priority areas for collaboration in El Salvador include:
Survey the landscape of implementation options – ISPs, MNOs, to identify appropriate last-mile connectivity solutions through COATL.
Explore mechanisms to provide funding to the GoES PPP model with COATL to receive investments from development banks and other private funders to connect and serve 3,893 schools.
Support business model development and explore financing options to scale open data/content solutions, including local hosting.
From schools to communities
Schools are often the centre of communities. Giga hopes to explore sustainable models to use the school as a hub to connect people in the local community. This initiative can support El Salvador to achieve greater economic growth through digital inclusion and boost its standing in the Global Competitive Index (currently 103 of 141).
1 School
215 Students & teachers
