Digital Communities

About Digital Communities

Today, 2.7 billion people are offline¹—that’s one-third of the global population. The reach and the benefits of the internet remain limited in many developing countries due to geography, cost of devices and service, and digital skills.

Without the benefits of internet connectivity, people in underserved communities have limited opportunity for equitable inclusion and growth.

As a global, digital infrastructure company, our operations are critical to the communities where we work and investing in those communities is core to our business. We recognize that access and adoption of broadband internet can improve quality of life, and more fundamentally, can lead to opportunities for education and career development, as well as improve access to healthcare and financial support services. Therefore, we invest in Digital Communities and seek to build a more equitable life through utilizing connectivity.

Digital Communities are digitally connected spaces, equipped with Information and Communication Technology (ICT), providing instructor-led or self-guided digital literacy and youth education instruction, financial literacy and career skilling, or healthcare services with an aim to improve quality of life through connectivity.

Mission

To support underserved communities across the globe with connectivity and technology, enabling social programs to improve quality of life and ensure equitable participation in the digital world.

Goal

We seek to build 2,000 Digital Communities across the globe by the end of 2026.

Criteria for a Digital Community

To be considered a Digital Community, the project and location will substantially meet the following criteria:

Each Digital Community focuses on one or more of the following areas:

Community Education

Classrooms are equipped with electrical power, strong internet signal, user devices, classroom materials and either educator-led instruction or self-guided engagement.

Financial Inclusion

Financial literacy education is available through our instructor-led learning centers.

Career Development

Job skills training and certification courses are available to registered participants to support entrepreneurship and increase employability for under-skilled adults, with job placement support offered to graduates.

Healthcare Access

Basic healthcare services and digital health solutions are provided at clinics where access to healthcare is limited.

Current Status

Together with our partners, we have launched more than 400 Digital Communities serving more than 335,000 people across 15 countries—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, South Africa and Uganda.

Building an Ecosystem

Digital Communities are established through strategic engagement between public and private partners—including for-profit corporations, nonprofits, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and governments—to provide social impact programming under the unified mission to accelerate digital equity. To that end, we build, outfit and bring Digital Communities online and work with the community on building a plan for a self-sustaining operation within three to five years.

Would your organization like to become a partner? Contact us at digitalcommunities@americantower.com.

Memberships, Coalitions and Partners

In order to build an ecosystem of like-minded organizations, we have joined coalitions, made pledges and engaged partners with the aim to build more Digital Communities and make a meaningful impact in underserved communities across the globe.

The World Economic Forum's EDISON Alliance aims to catalyze projects and partnerships around the world to provide connectivity and digital services to remote, rural and underprivileged populations. One of the fundamental needs to achieve the goals of the Alliance is to build the necessary connectivity infrastructure—cell towers, satellites, Wi-Fi or other technologies. American Tower made a pledge to build 2,000 Digital Communities by the end of 2026.

Launched by the International Telecommunication Union, Partner2Connect Digital Coalition is a multistakeholder alliance, which aims to bring meaningful connectivity and unleash digital transformation opportunities in the world’s hardest to connect places. American Tower made a pledge through Partner2Connect to build 2,000 Digital Communities by the end of 2026.

In September 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) for Prosperity Upskilling Initiative, a public-private endeavor to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth by providing primarily women and girls in IPEF emerging economies and middle-income partners access to training and education in digital skills. American Tower joined 13 U.S. companies and committed to provide 500,000 upskilling opportunities to women and girls in India by 2032.

N50 is the Geeks Without Frontiers led initiative focused on the next 50% of the planet that does not fully digitally participate. The N50 partners’ primary focus is to launch projects for marginalized communities using best-practice playbooks for long-term delivery of ICT solutions. N50 is an open, inclusive ecosystem that is fueling transformation in some of the world’s most challenging environments. In 2022, American Tower joined N50 as a lead partner through the Digital Communities program.

Digital Community in Ixhuatan, Oaxaca, Mexico

For more information, contact us at digitalcommunities@americantower.com.