The broadband market in Latin America is getting back on track, aided by 2004’s relatively stable economic market and by increasing affordability, popularity and advances in internet connection speed, according to eMarketer’s new Latin America Broadband report.
Commenting on the new research, Ben Macklin, a senior analyst and author of the report said: “The broadband markets in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico managed to limp through the downturn and are now picking up speed.”
eMarketer points out that, although it’s tempting to suggest stability for the Latin American internet sector, in terms of broadband availability and adoption the region remains well behind North America, Western Europe and much of the Asia-Pacific region.
Macklin said that economic volatility in the area has made forecasting difficult, resulting in eMarketer taking a relatively conservative approach to its predictions. However, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico have all recorded impressive broadband growth during the year, with Chile leading the region in terms of broadband penetration.
eMarketer remains positive for continued broadband growth in Latin America, but points out that larger political and economic forces will continue to guide the markets.
Elsewhere, in its Europe Broadband report, eMarketer revealed that Europe was performing strongly in terms of broadband adoption, with penetration in Western Europe increasing by nearly 65% over 2004, twice the rate of the US (see Europe Enjoys Impressive Growth In Broadband Up-Take).
The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark Switzerland and Sweden are shown to have recorded broadband penetration rates equal to or higher than the US at the end of 2004.
Globally, broadband analysis company, Point-Topic, revealed that a record 50 million broadband lines were added in 2004, bringing the total at the end of the year to 150.5 million (see Global Broadband Penetration Exceeds 2004 Forecasts).
The USA remains the world’s largest broadband country with 33.9 million lines, with China continuing to gain ground, adding over 6.6 million lines in the second half of last year.
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