Developing Telecoms | Cisco: broadband gains ground in Chile with 10.4% growth

21 May 2012

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Cisco: broadband gains ground in Chile with 10.4% growth

Thursday, 08 October 2009 01:00 | James Barton

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Cisco's Broadband Barometer (22nd edition) shows that fixed broadband connections grew 10.4 % in the first semester of 2009, in comparison with the same period last year. By June 2009, Chile reached 1.6 million broadband connections across the country. In a challenging economic period for several sectors of the Chilean economy, telecommunication services showed sustainable growth, especially in the broadband segment, having added approximately 155,000 fixed and 162,000 mobile connections to the local market during the first semester of 2009.
According to the Barometer, the improvement in broadband growth is due in part to new Internet access offerings directed towards the lower socio-economic segment, as well as new service packages of prepaid connections in the market, and low cost offers.
In fact, fixed broadband connection grew 16% year over year. The residential or home market continues to lead with 85% of broadband connections concentrating in the segment, while 15% corresponds to company subscriptions. Currently 31% of Chilean homes have broadband, and there are still 1.6 million broadband connections to go to reach the goal set by Cisco for 2010.
In terms of speed, those at 512 Kb/s or greater represent 70% of the market and will continue to rise as users accelerate the demand for web 2.0 applications, cloud computing, video and social network applications. This trend was also noted in Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, which predicts an increase in Internet traffic between 2009 and 2012, attributed mainly to video.
When it comes to a geographical breakdown of mobile broadband, Cisco’s barometer identifies mobile broadband connections as a growth area for regions that have not had coverage by traditional technologies; mobile broadband has grown 47.7% outside the capital Santiago, only a few percentage points below that of Santiago itself (52.3%).
For the future, Cisco predicts that the opening of new spectrum will allow new and existing service providers to expand services and capacity, and launch robust innovative offers which are required to keep up the broadband momentum in Chile.
Guillermo Moya, General Manager, Cisco Chile is optimistic:
"Cisco's Broadband Barometer demonstrates Chileans have strong demand for connectivity and technology adoption, even during the economic downturn. Chilean consumers understand the value that connectivity brings for their businesses and lives. Applications such as social networks and cloud computing will continue driving demand in the months to come...Mobile broadband growth shows the value that users give to mobility, and also how this constitutes a valuable alternative for rural areas or areas without traditional technology coverage."
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