ECLAC PRESENTED DOCUMENT ON BROADBAND FOR INCLUSION AT SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS

Santiago, April 18- During the Sixth Summit of the Americas, held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on April 14 and 15, the ECLAC @LIS2 project delivered the document “Banda ancha para el desarrollo y la inclusión” (“Broadband for development and inclusion”).

The publication, produced by request of the Colombian Government, details the ways broadband technology influences and contributes to the economic development of nations and social inclusion. In the first point, through jobs creation, the development of productive capacities and the increase of the productivity growth rate. In the second one, through free access to knowledge, use of online public services and the development of new applications that affect social interaction processes.

It also thoroughly details the broadband situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, regarding issues like rates, available connection speeds and penetration levels; at the same time identifies the areas in which public policies and investments are necessary to improve the use and promotion of this communications technology.

The Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, remarked before the heads of State attending the summit the importance of ICT for development, how critical is to improve broadband in the region and the goals achieved by the organization in the issue: “Although the region has progressed, the broadband Internet service still has a penetration level very lower than the ones in developed countries and in the fast-growing Asian economies. In the region, broadband is still expensive, slow, low-quality and inaccessible for larger portions of the population. Only the 5% has access to a cost of 25 US dollars per Mbps, unlike Europe, where the cost is 5 US dollars.

However, she emphasized the work the organization has done on the subject through the Regional Broadband Dialogue, and the achieved goals: “In two years the broadband rates to consumers in the region have dropped to less than half. Now work is being done on improve the quality of the service and lower its costs, by reducing the use of international connections, which explain 20%-40% of them”.

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