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The country won today in Barcelona (Spain) the GSMA Award ' government leadership ' for the Live Digital Plan, in which the Government works on poverty reduction and employment generation through the use of ICT.

Barcelona, February 28, 2012. For the first time in history, Colombia won the award as the government with the most innovative telecommunication policies in the world. It won the "Government Leadership Award 2012" for the Live Digital Plan, at the Global Telecommunications Conference in Barcelona.

"It was an honor to stand before Ministers and regulators from over 145 countries in the world and CEOs of major corporations. We were the only country rewarded; thank you all for supporting Live Digital. This is an award that fills us with the energy necessary to continue bringing Internet to all Colombians", Statement from the Minister of ICT, Diego Molano Vega.

The GSMA awards are awarded within the Mobile World Congress, the world´s most important technology fair, which is held every year in Barcelona and brings together more than 65,000 people, ministers and regulators from over 141 countries and representatives and CIO´s of operators, manufacturers, application and mobile content developers.

At this year's GSMA award "Government Leadership", operators from around the world recognized the management of Minister Diego Molano Vega and the Live Digital Plan as the number one strategy that seeks to reduce poverty and promote development through the use of ICT.

The plan, led by the Ministry of ICT, won the award based on "the management and strategies established by a solid telecommunication regulators, based on clear principles that encourage private investment and healthy competition in the last twelve months" and highlights live Digital as an innovative telecommunications policy with a high economic and social impact.

"This award is a recognition to the efforts of the administration of President Santos to make technology an effective tool to bridge social and regional gaps and promote development throughout Colombia," said ICT Minister Diego Molano Vega.
Live Digital has achieved that Colombia went from 2.2 million Internet connections to about 5 million in the last year and a half. During this period, in addition, significant progress has been made in infrastructure as the tender of the National Fiber Optics project was assigned, which will connect nearly 100% of the municipalities of Colombia.

Similarly, we have implemented measures that have allowed through public-private actions the massification of the Internet, in such a way that broadband connections grew by 130% and computers in Colombia today have the lowest prices in the region. This thanks to measures taken such as reducing tariffs and subsidies for internet aimed at the lowest strata.

In addition, the Live Digital Plan advances actions in order to massify the use of technology: it has given 82,000 computers to children and the youth in more than 3,500 educational sites, through the Computers To Educate Program, Colombians now have 701 procedures and services developed by Government on line in order to facilitate the relationship with the state and 9,000 teachers were trained in the proper use of ICT tools.

Live Digital seeks to massify the use of the Internet in order to facilitate the lives of Colombians through technology.

About of GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of the mobile communication operators worldwide. It extends to over 220 countries, unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators and over 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset manufacturers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organizations.