Broadband in the Region: Slow and Expensive

While Panama has come a long way to deliver higher speed internet at a lower cost, Latin America scores poorly against developed countries.  I used to get 16 MB download and 7 up for $59 and I pay as much for less than half that here in Panama.  Well at least we can get it now when before we were at near dial up speed in 2006.  This too will change as competition moves in.

Communications currently being the engine of development, Latin America is moving at low speeds in a vehicle that is too costly.

An article in Elfinancierocr.com quotes the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, who highlights what all Latin Americans are suffering from: a brutal disadvantage in the availability of broadband connectivity, compared with developed countries.

“…According to data from the IDB, while in South Korea paying a year’s worth of internet service requires a day’s work, in Latin America it takes 31 days to pay a similar plan. Each megabite in the Asian nation costs two dollars, compared to $53 in this region. ”

“… In Latin America, only one in eight people have access to broadband, which is a slow and expensive service in the region, said the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno on Friday in Panama.’We are lagging behind in this race,’ Moreno said when commenting on the statistics during the 54th annual meeting of IDB governors being held until Sunday in Panama.”

Source: elfinancierocr.com