Economic growth allows for more investments in ICT

This year, as well as in 2016, Brazil will be the host-country of world sporting events. This is a favorable opportunity for investments in the sector, specifically for the implementation of 4G in some host-cities. 

Currently, Brazil has a favorable opportunity in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, due to the world-scale sporting events to be held this year and in 2016. For example, the acceleration in the implementation of fourth generation mobile internet (4G) in some cities allows not only to meet the need for high-speed data transmissions, but also to increase investments in ICT. 

Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais are the main business centers as well as the cities with the highest rate of consumption. They are located in the Southeastern part of the country and are the states with the highest level of per capita income. Therefore, they are the most economically developed cities in the country. 

ICT in Brazil is one of the sectors that contributes the most to the country's economic growth. During the past few years, that contribution exceeds more than 8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to the study carried out by CAF, "Hacia la Digitalización de América Latina: las infraestructuras y los servicios TIC en la región" ("Towards Digitalization in Latin America: ICT infrastructure and services in the region"). 

Despite the fact that rates and taxes are high, mobile telephony and broad band services have a high adoption index among the population. The demand for e-commerce and e-banking services (for net users as well as expenditure per user) is also high, making the country stand out from the rest of the region. 

In this context, one of the most relevant challenges will be the elimination of inequalities of access to ICT for the population, both at a territorial as well as socio-economic level.