The giant strides of the digital revolution have been intimately linked in recent years to the economic performance of nations. A recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) indicated, for example, that a 10% increase in the penetration of broadband services in Latin America would generate an average increase of 3.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and an increase in productivity of 2.6 percentage points.
Other research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission reports that information and communication technologies (ICT) provided over 40% of annual productivity gains in the European Union (EU), and account for almost 25% of the EU's annual GDP growth.
A new study - "Telecommunications Governance: Towards the Digital Economy," also from the (IDB)-focuses on what the situation is in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in relation to the digital divide between the region and developed nations. It also analyzes the governance of this issue in these countries and the reform needs identified.
"Good telecommunications governance is essential to align as much as possible the interests of private sector actors with those of the public and consumers to create a digital economy that helps promote development," says one of the authors of the paper, Joan Prats, as detailed in a statement.
Although Uruguay has better numbers than its peers in the region in most of the dimensions considered, the report points out what steps the country could take to improve. In this line, on the one hand, a series of "limitations" are pointed out and, on the other, possible "reforms" are suggested.
Among the first, it is pointed out that the "legal framework does not have a consumer protection norm for users of ICT services, nor a framework law for the information and communications technology sector".
In turn, it criticizes that "the most recent Digital Agenda covered the period 2011-15 but has not been updated". Thirdly, it points out that the "radio spectrum allocated represents only 20% of what is recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for the year 2015, and 15% of what is recommended by the ITU for the year 2020".
And on the side of possible reforms? The report's first suggestion is to "modernise" the regulatory framework. "Draft a bill that enshrines the rights of ICT users as well as the mechanisms for their effectiveness, and a bill for the information and communications technology sector that takes into account best practices," it explains.
It also puts on the table the relevance of "designing and approving a strategy for the development of the digital economy", since participation in this "requires the design of a strategy that promotes the digitization of the sectors of the economy, adopting measures that encourage the use and adoption of ICTs by companies".
Finally, the third suggested reform has to do with "accelerating the allocation of radio spectrum". This is because "the low amount of radio spectrum for mobile communications requires increasing the amount of spectrum allocated for this purpose, as well as designing policies aimed at ensuring efficiency in the administration of this scarce resource".
Figures.
Fixed broadband penetration in the region is 10%, according to the study based on information from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In the OECD, this figure rises to 28%.
If you look at mobile broadband, meanwhile, 30% of the population has access to it, less than half the OECD average of 72%.
On average, 44% of LAC households have Internet access, far from the 81% of the OECD. Uruguay, in this case, stood at 60%, thus surpassing the regional average. The IDB research also details that in the region 40% of the lower income population should devote a figure equivalent to 10% of their monthly income to obtain a basic fixed broadband subscription, compared to 3% in OECD countries. Uruguay - where the average is close to the OECD average - was the best performer in LAC.
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How is the region doing in 4G technology?
In Latin America and the Caribbean, only 27% of the population is covered by fourth-generation mobile broadband networks (known as 4G), according to a report released today by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). In comparison, in OECD countries this figure rises to 77%.
The research specifies that, in this field, in the region there are "very different levels of development". The Southern Cone is, in fact, the area where 4G has advanced the most: 36% of the population. In this sense, Uruguay is one of the best positioned countries. In 2016 it was ranked second in the region -behind Chile- with 65% of its population covered by networks of this type.
The survey also shows how many people say they have used the internet in the last 12 months. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the average is 54%, much lower than the OECD average of 77%. In this dimension, the Southern Cone also appears as the best performer, with an average of 52%. Uruguay, on the other hand, was above this figure, with almost 70% of the population using the Internet.
On the other hand, it emphasizes the "quality problems" that have internet access in the region. The average speed of fixed connections in these countries reached 4.64Mbps, said the study based on data from Akamai, a "provider of digital content services in the cloud. In OECD countries it is 13.14 Mbps. In mobile connections, meanwhile, in the region the average speed is 3.87 Mbps, which rises to 10.84 Mbps in the OECD.
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Source: El País
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