Despite accelerating uptake in some parts of the world, broadband has only just begun to make headway in the Americas region, and still faces many stumbling blocks to growth. But it’s only a matter of time: experts agree that broadband Internet will soon become the basic fabric of the emerging Information Society.

Broadband Internet usage is on the increase across the world. In developed markets, growth rates for broadband- albeit from a small base- have skyrocketed in recent years, increasing by some 56% between the end of 2002 and 2003 to reach 98.8m by the end of the year, according to ITU.

Global broadband rollout has been helped by a raft of different infrastructure solutions which deliver broadband to end-users. DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technologies are the most popular, while cable networks are also putting in a strong showing in countries where adequate infrastructure is in place. In addition, wireless technologies are beginning to make their mark, in some parts of the work through vigorous rollouts of WiFi (IEEE 802.11b).

Region-wide, however, problems such as low per-capita income, high broadband prices, and a chronic lack of fixed line infrastructure in many areas have hampered growth. What’s more, the average income need in order to afford a broadband connection varies considerably from nation to nation. In Peru, for example, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates that access to a 256kbps broadband connection costs the equivalent of 40% of the average national income; the cost for the same service in the US in 2002 was a mere 1.5% of average income.

But it’s not just a matter of price. Broadband growth is also limited by a lack of bandwidth to regional hubs. While markets such as Canada and the United States now respectively boast more than 6’000 and 3’000 bits per second (bps) per inhabitant, this contrasts starkly with just 315 bps per inhabitant in Argentina, 109 in Mexico, 51 in Venezuela and 8 in Cuba.

The absence of "big pipes" in most Latin American countries certainly doesn’t reflect a shortage of potential demand. Growth in Internet use across the region has been steady, with Brazil now home to 22m users, giving it an Internet penetration rate of 12%. For its part, Mexico has seen Internet user numbers increase by 180% between 2000 and 2004 to reach 14 million. The prospects for broadband in the region thus look positive, providing solutions can be found to pressing problems such as pricing and infrastructure. 

Rollout of cable broadband Internet has been stunted owing to its high cost and relatively limited coverage area. Although expensive, satellite access technologies are also being used in some parts of the region, particularly in remote areas such as the Amazon basin, where there may be no existing telecommunications infrastructure.

This chronic lack of infrastructure has given rise to the use of "alternative" access technologies which could provide far-reaching solutions for a larger-scale rollout of broadband services. Different types of wireless network are gaining ground in the region, with Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina leading the region in terms of WiFi hotspots, according to the ITU report.

Mexico tops the regional league with 1’138 hotspots in 2004, followed by Brazil with 500 and Chile with 300. The Caribbean region had a total of 104 WiFi hotspots, installed in airports, hotel chains and conference centres. Wireless broadband services could prove an ideal solution for areas such as the Caribbean, where weather conditions can be extreme and conventional ICT infrastructure subject to frequent damage. 

Meanwhile, the longer-range WiMax (802.16) wide area fixed wireless technology could also come into its own in the region, with trials now starting to get underway. In Argentina, fixed wireless operator Millicom is set to be the first Latin American carrier to launch wireless broadband services using WiMax, with services scheduled to come online during 2005.

As regards mobile Internet, it remains at a very nascent stage in Latin America. IMT-2000 — or 3G —services using CDMA2000 1x EV-DO technology were launched in October 2004 by Brazilian operator Vivo. At the time of writing, services were available in the main business centres of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo and Curitiba, although the operator plans to extend services to other centres including Brasilia, Porto Alegre and Salvador de Bahía by the end of this year. CDMA2000 1x EV-DO services were also launched in 2005 in Argentina by CoTeCal, and in Venezuela by Movilnet, the mobile arm of operator CANTV.

While it’s true that high-speed services are currently available predominantly within urban areas, analysts note that broadband has great potential to help improve the lives of the region’s non-urban dwellers. Instead of being viewed as a luxury item, broadband is now increasingly being seen as a necessity for socio-economic development.

Broadband can be harnessed to improve a number of key initiatives in the region:

• Bringing remote communities into the Information society: In rural or developing areas, wireless broadband can be used in order to "leapfrog" the need for traditional fixed line infrastructure and provide access to voice, data and Internet services in regions which previously lacked access to fixed line services. Rural initiatives in the Amazon or the remote Roraima state in Brazil have helped transform communities, providing access to information, communication and services such as telemedicine or e-commerce. Because new wireless technologies have the potential to transform rural or economically disadvantaged areas, ITU’s Telecommunication Development Sector’s focus on broadband access technologies led to a recent Americas regional seminar on broadband wireless access (BWA) technologies, which looked at key issues like frequency allocation and service regulation.
    
• Cybercafés: currently, these account for a significant number of broadband users in the Americas and fill a vital market niche. Cybercafés allow those who cannot afford a fixed line connection to access the Internet. As their numbers increase, so too will the demand for broadband access and bandwidth capacity.
    
• Facilitating new e-initiatives: The power of broadband will enhance a wide range of e-initiatives, such as e-health and telemedicine — a vital tool in remote areas. E-government is another area which a number of governments in the region are now are supporting: Latin America and the Caribbean have made sound progress recently in terms of e-readiness, and this could be much enhanced through the power of broadband.

Perhaps most crucially, the region’s operators and governments alike are firmly committed to increasing broadband usage. In Columbia, for example, the Communications Ministry has announced an initiative aimed at stimulating broadband uptake, while in Chile and Peru governments and operators have also publicly committed to extending broadband usage.