The Status of Broadband in Panama 2016
- An excerpt of ECLAC´s recent report -
by AmCham´s Trade Specialist - Radu Serrano
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean´s (ECLAC) latest report, dated September 2016, on the Status of Broadband in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016, affirms that the advancement of Internet in the region has increased. In 2015, 55% of the inhabitants used the net, in comparison to 2010´s 35%. Likewise, the number of households connected to it grew 14.1% annually over the past five years, reaching 43.4% of the total in 2015. Panama, Brazil and Argentina are classified in the category in which the percentage of households with Internet access varies between 45% and 56%.
Percentage of households with Internet access
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Source: ECLAC |
Source: ECLAC Argentina (ARG), Bolivia (BOL), Brasil (BRA), Chile (CHL), Colombia (COL), Costa Rica (CRI), Ecuador (ECU), El Salvador (SLV), Guatemala (GTM), Honduras (HND), México (MEX), Nicaragua (NIC), Panamá (PAN), Paraguay (PRY), Perú (PER), Uruguay (URY), Venezuela (VEN). |
Regarding affordability in the region, in 2010, a fixed broadband service of 1 Mbps would have cost 18% of a person´s average monthly income, while at the beginning of 2016, the percentage decreased to 2%. Companies offering mobile broadband services have commercially developed many data plans and packages of different durations and capacities, largely in order to reach segments that cannot afford postpaid plans. For the analysis of mobile broadband rates the lowest data rates, valid for 1 and 30 day(s), are taken as a reference. Plans valid for 30 days are those considered close to 1GB of capacity. In terms of 30 days, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica have the best affordability, with costs lower than 2% of a person´s average monthly income.
The Governments in the region are continuously trying to universalize access to and use of the Internet, which is reflected in their different policy initiatives. Panama´s National Authority for Governmental Innovation developed the “Digital Agenda 2014-2019 Panama 4.0” and updated it in November 2015 and January 2016. This agenda draws on the digital agendas of the region, the internationally agreed goals in eLAC2018, and the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. The agenda considers values such as competitiveness, transparent governance, management efficiency and saving, sustainability and professional development in the field of the ICTs.
For more information, please refer to the original report (in Spanish).