Connected and Growing

04/10/2012

According to the United Nation’s report titled State of Broadband 2012, Chile leads the region of Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of Internet penetration per 100 inhabitants (53.9%), followed by Uruguay (51.4%), Argentina (47.7%), Brazil (45%), Panama (42.7%), Costa Rica (42.1%), Colombia (40.4%), and Venezuela (40.2%).

Paraguay (23.9%), Cuba (23.2%), El Salvador (17.7%), Honduras (15.9%), Guatemala (11.7%), and Nicaragua (10.6%) ranked lower.

The report also shows that 34% of Latin American and Caribbean inhabitants have broadband connection, a figure that is just above the global average of 32.4%. Based on Internet development in the region, this figure clearly evidences growth potential.

In terms of home broadband connections, according to the United Nations, Uruguay ranked first (39.4%) followed by Chile (38.8%) and Argentina (38%).

Other relevant results show that Brazil leads the region in terms of mobile broadband connections (29.9 subscribers per 100 inhabitants), followed by Chile (17.1) and Argentina (11.7).

According to The Boston Consulting Group, in countries such as Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, the Internet already represents between 2% and 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the Inter-American Development Bank, a 10% increase in broadband penetration in the region would represent, on average, a 3.2% increase in GDP and a 2.6% increase in productivity.