Mobile telephony grows 110 percent in two years

The penetration of mobile telephony in Latin America  has grown progressively and exponentially from 101.36 percent at the beginning of 2010 toreach 110.48 percent in2012, as indicated by the report Infraestructura en el desarrollo de América Latina(Infrastructure in the Development of Latin America) (CAF, 2012). These figures are significant when considering the context of a telecommunications market that is expanding throughout the continent.

Internet's fixed wide band  has grown by an annual average of 16.66 percent since 2010; mobile wide band  (cell phones) went from 5.04 percent at the beginning of 2010 to 20.70 percent in the second semester of 2012. This increase is equivalent to 87.36 percent annually. The constant growth and the potential development prospects have boosted competitiveness between private operators, governments, and companies in the telecommunications sector.

Progress in the development of competition lead to a reduction of rates in the three sectors (mobile phones, fixed wide band, and mobile wide band). Only in mobile telephony, prices have been reduced by 10 percent on average since 2010. The rates for fixed wide band have fallen by 17 percent on basic offers, and by 44 percent for medium speed services.

Governments have promoted agendas that stimulate mobile competition, with regulations and obligations for virtual mobile operators, modifying the tax framework of the services in order to lower the final price. Thus, the service quality may be controlled and platforms are established to reduce crimes based on digital technology.

Latin America is the continent which has shown the greatest progress at a world level in terms of the digitalization index, an indicator that measures the adoption of digital technologies, their use in applications and services such as electronic trade, electronic government, and social networks.