2009 Latin America - Internet, Broadband and Convergence Statistics (tables only)

Internet

Internet user penetration in Latin America and the Caribbean was about 30% in early 2009. The American continent displays a characteristic North-South divide in terms of Internet users. The northern band, comprising the USA and Canada, enjoys 73% Internet user penetration, but in Central America and the Caribbean, penetration is only 20%, while in South America, it stands at about 34%.

Almost one third of the region’s Internet users are in Brazil, but apart from a few first-world Caribbean islands, the highest user penetration rates are found in Jamaica, Argentina, and Chile. Argentina’s 50% Internet penetration rate is even higher than Europe (including both Eastern and Western Europe), but it is well below Australia, the USA, Japan, South Korea, and northern European countries, where penetration ranges between 70% and 90%.

Broadband

Broadband penetration in Latin America is about 27% below the world average. This slow uptake has been largely due to the high prices charged by providers, which often have a virtual monopoly in their areas of operation. Competition, however, is increasing and prices are dropping. Indeed, Latin America was the world’s fastest-growing broadband market in the fourth quarter of 2008. ADSL is the prevalent technology, followed by cable modem. Mobile broadband, only two years after launch, has managed to attract about 5 million subscribers. WiMAX, on the other hand, after suffering serious setbacks due to licensing delays, has been further knocked back by the global financial crisis.

However, Latin America is becoming one of the world’s most promising broadband markets, growing at a CAGR of 48% from 2003 to 2008. Competition has been increasing and prices have been dropping in most countries. Given the region’s general economic indicators, there remains ample space for expansion. The region’s broadband leaders are Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile, and in early 2009, these five countries accounted for around 85% of all broadband subscribers in the region.

Convergence

Convergence offers promising prospects in Latin America, a continent with about 577 million people, a soaring broadband sector, low teledensity, relatively high TV penetration, and a growing VoIP market. Latin America, like other regions throughout the world, has shown a keen interest in developing triple play models. A growing number of pay TV companies throughout the region are seeking to expand their operations by offering voice services, most often using VoIP technology together with broadband access. Not to be left behind in the technological race, in a few countries, such as Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, the incumbent fixed-line operators have also entered the triple play arena.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.

The following notes provide some background to our scenario forecasting methodology:

·         This report includes what we term scenario forecasts. By describing long-range scenarios we identify a band within which we expect market growth to occur. The associated text describes what we see as the most likely growth trend within this band.

·         The projections shown in the tables in this report are based on our own historical information, as well as on telecommunication sector statistics from official and non-official, national and international sources. We assume a possible deviation of 15-20% around this data.

·         All statistics for GDP, revenue, etc are shown in US$, in order to maintain consistency within and between markets. At the same time we acknowledge that this can introduce some irregularities.