Highly-connected country lags behind regional average in terms of download speeds
Argentina has some of the cheapest broadband Internet access in the region by the megabit per second (Mbps), and 60 percent of citizens are connected to the internet. However, the average speed of Argentine Internet access is still below the Latin American average and lags far behind Uruguay — by far the regional leader.
A report by the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on broadband connectivity in Latin America shows that Argentines pay less than two percent of their per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for internet access at the speed of one megabit per second (Mbps) — as is the case in Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay. However, the speed of connection in the country averages out at 6.34 Mbps, below the regional average of 7.26 Mbps and far from the 22.58 Mbps and 14.96 Mbps that those surfing the Internet in Uruguay and Chile respectively enjoy.
The average broadband speed seen in Uruguay is comparable to the averages seen in European countries such as Spain or the United Kingdom. And while Argentina’s average broadband Internet access speed of 6 Mbps is considered high-speed, it is it not progressing at the same rate as some of its neighbours. The ECLAC measures the quality of Internet access in terms of speed and notes that only two years ago Chile led the region with 8 Mbps, making Uruguay’s standout result even more significant.
With Brazilians connecting to the internet at average rates of the 12.83 Mbps, Argentina takes the middle ground in the company of Colombia and Ecuador.
In turn, the slowest average speeds are found in Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. Coincidentally, the cost of internet and Paraguay and Bolivia is excruciatingly high — in Bolivia the cost of one Mbps is equivalent to more than 20 percent of per capita GDP.
The need for speed
According to Internet service providers, download speeds of 6 Mbps are good enough to download the average song in seven seconds, a 60MB movie trailer in 80 seconds and a full movie in 16 minutes. That is, of course, if the average speed stays constant and doesn’t dip at peak periods.
Interestingly, the Argentine Internet market ranks second in the region to Uruguay in terms of the proportion of users who have access to what is called “High Broadband” — connections faster than 10 Mbps. In 2013 — the last year for which data is available — a shade under six percent of all Argentine internet connections were considered “High broadband” and in the first quarter of the year, with growth in those connections at 195 percent. In comparison, 10 percent of connections in Uruguay were in the same category with a much slower growth rate and in Chile six percent of connections were high-speed with a whopping 429 percent increase in the connections.
Argentina also ranks relatively high in the proportion of connections with speeds of at least 4 Mbps, with about 35 percent of connections running at that speed. Uruguay once again wins out in the speed wars more than half of the country’s Internet connections clocking in at 4 Mbps. Tellingly, the fastest growth in new 4 Mbps connections can be found in the countries with the lowest average speeds such as Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia.
In the relatively new sector of mobile broadband — in which Internet access is provided through wireless means instead of fibre-optic cables or telephone lines — similar trends can be seen. Uruguay steals the show with 16.96 Mbps, but Peru and Colombia see an increase in the rankings with downloads speeds above 9 Mbps, joining Chile on the podium. Indeed, the speed of the mobile access in Peru and Colombia is an indication of the future — Internet access through wireless means is faster there than “wired” solutions, which are on average 3 Mbps slower.
Argentina once again takes the middle-ground with mobile broadband download speeds of 5.54 Mbps.
Access on the cheap
For the ECLAC, getting online in the region is getting cheaper. “While in 2010 it was necessary to set aside an average of 17.8 percent of incomes to obtain broadband access, in 2014 the figure was 3.84 percent. The biggest progress was in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, where it went from 84.8 to 20.85 percent in that period” the ECLAC wrote.
The average paid by Argentines in 2010 was about five percent of the per capita GDP, declining to the less than two percent shelled out in 2014.
The ECLAC notes nonetheless that there is much to be done still with average cost of basic broadband in economies such as France, Japan and the UK hovering in the region of 0.1 percent of GDP per capita. In addition, the proportion of society in OECD countries with Internet access is 79 percent, well above the 46.7 percent in Latin America and 19 percentage points more than in Argentina as of 2013. According to ECLAC data, in 2006 20 percent of the population had Internet access and the average annual growth rate has been about 15 percent.
In that regard Argentina has also some of the most “equal” Internet access according to income quintiles. As such, the ratio between the “quantity of homes with Internet access in the wealthiest quintile and the poorest quintile is less than 5 in Chile and Costa Rica, and in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela it is between 5 and 10. In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay, the ratio is between 12 and 20 times greater and in Peru, around 50” the ECLAC states.
Nearing near “equality” in Internet access in terms of income is Uruguay, with a GINI Internet access coefficient of 0.130 in 2013.
Herald staff
Argentina has some of the cheapest broadband Internet access in the region by the megabit per second (Mbps), and 60 percent of citizens are connected to the internet. However, the average speed of Argentine Internet access is still below the Latin American average and lags far behind Uruguay — by far the regional leader.
A report by the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on broadband connectivity in Latin America shows that Argentines pay less than two percent of their per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for internet access at the speed of one megabit per second (Mbps) — as is the case in Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay. However, the speed of connection in the country averages out at 6.34 Mbps, below the regional average of 7.26 Mbps and far from the 22.58 Mbps and 14.96 Mbps that those surfing the Internet in Uruguay and Chile respectively enjoy.
The average broadband speed seen in Uruguay is comparable to the averages seen in European countries such as Spain or the United Kingdom. And while Argentina’s average broadband Internet access speed of 6 Mbps is considered high-speed, it is it not progressing at the same rate as some of its neighbours. The ECLAC measures the quality of Internet access in terms of speed and notes that only two years ago Chile led the region with 8 Mbps, making Uruguay’s standout result even more significant.
With Brazilians connecting to the internet at average rates of the 12.83 Mbps, Argentina takes the middle ground in the company of Colombia and Ecuador.
In turn, the slowest average speeds are found in Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. Coincidentally, the cost of internet and Paraguay and Bolivia is excruciatingly high — in Bolivia the cost of one Mbps is equivalent to more than 20 percent of per capita GDP.
The need for speed
According to Internet service providers, download speeds of 6 Mbps are good enough to download the average song in seven seconds, a 60MB movie trailer in 80 seconds and a full movie in 16 minutes. That is, of course, if the average speed stays constant and doesn’t dip at peak periods.
Interestingly, the Argentine Internet market ranks second in the region to Uruguay in terms of the proportion of users who have access to what is called “High Broadband” — connections faster than 10 Mbps. In 2013 — the last year for which data is available — a shade under six percent of all Argentine internet connections were considered “High broadband” and in the first quarter of the year, with growth in those connections at 195 percent. In comparison, 10 percent of connections in Uruguay were in the same category with a much slower growth rate and in Chile six percent of connections were high-speed with a whopping 429 percent increase in the connections.
Argentina also ranks relatively high in the proportion of connections with speeds of at least 4 Mbps, with about 35 percent of connections running at that speed. Uruguay once again wins out in the speed wars more than half of the country’s Internet connections clocking in at 4 Mbps. Tellingly, the fastest growth in new 4 Mbps connections can be found in the countries with the lowest average speeds such as Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia.
In the relatively new sector of mobile broadband — in which Internet access is provided through wireless means instead of fibre-optic cables or telephone lines — similar trends can be seen. Uruguay steals the show with 16.96 Mbps, but Peru and Colombia see an increase in the rankings with downloads speeds above 9 Mbps, joining Chile on the podium. Indeed, the speed of the mobile access in Peru and Colombia is an indication of the future — Internet access through wireless means is faster there than “wired” solutions, which are on average 3 Mbps slower.
Argentina once again takes the middle-ground with mobile broadband download speeds of 5.54 Mbps.
Access on the cheap
For the ECLAC, getting online in the region is getting cheaper. “While in 2010 it was necessary to set aside an average of 17.8 percent of incomes to obtain broadband access, in 2014 the figure was 3.84 percent. The biggest progress was in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, where it went from 84.8 to 20.85 percent in that period” the ECLAC wrote.
The average paid by Argentines in 2010 was about five percent of the per capita GDP, declining to the less than two percent shelled out in 2014.
The ECLAC notes nonetheless that there is much to be done still with average cost of basic broadband in economies such as France, Japan and the UK hovering in the region of 0.1 percent of GDP per capita. In addition, the proportion of society in OECD countries with Internet access is 79 percent, well above the 46.7 percent in Latin America and 19 percentage points more than in Argentina as of 2013. According to ECLAC data, in 2006 20 percent of the population had Internet access and the average annual growth rate has been about 15 percent.
In that regard Argentina has also some of the most “equal” Internet access according to income quintiles. As such, the ratio between the “quantity of homes with Internet access in the wealthiest quintile and the poorest quintile is less than 5 in Chile and Costa Rica, and in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela it is between 5 and 10. In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay, the ratio is between 12 and 20 times greater and in Peru, around 50” the ECLAC states.
Nearing near “equality” in Internet access in terms of income is Uruguay, with a GINI Internet access coefficient of 0.130 in 2013.
Herald staff
