SOCINFODO: Internet Penetration Rate

>Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:53:15 -0400
>From: Yacine Khelladi <yacine@yacine.net>
>To: "Caribbean ICT virtual community CIVIC" <icacaribbean@dgroups.org>
>Subject: [icacaribbean] The Internet Penetration Rate in the Dominican
>Republic is 9% below
> the Average for Latin America
>
>
>source:
>http://www.voip-magazine.com/content/view/2618/20060330005032/
>
>
>=============================================================
>The Internet Penetration Rate in the Dominican Republic is 9% below the
>Average for Latin America
>Thursday, 30 March 2006
>
>DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2006--Research and Markets
>(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c34963) has announced the
>addition of 2006 Latin America Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Mexico and
>the Caribbean to their offering.
>
>This report provides information on Mexico and the Caribbean Countries
>(Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and small island
>nations). Each country has its own chapter and covers the following subjects.
>
>- Key Statistics - Market Overview - Regulatory Environment - Fixed
>Network Operators - Telecom Infrastructure - Data Market - Internet -
>Broadband - E-services - Mobile Market Overview - Mobile Operators -
>Broadcasting
>
>The region comprising the Caribbean Sea and its numerous islands is
>commonly known as the Caribbean. It lies south of the Gulf of Mexico,
>covering an area of about 2,754,000km2. For many years, it was referred to
>as the West Indies; however, the name Caribbean has been universally
>adopted since the early 20th century. Varying considerably in size, the
>Caribbean islands form a wide arc between Florida in the north and
>Venezuela in the south, as well as a barrier between the Caribbean Sea and
>the Atlantic Ocean.
>
>Caribbean Countries: Small Island Nations: These countries include
>Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British
>Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique,
>Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent
>and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, and the US
>Virgin Islands. Despite the small markets in terms of population,
>telecommunications has become one of the Caribbean's major growth
>industries. Liberalisation agreements have been reached in most countries,
>and Cable and Wireless (C&W), historically the monopoly provider of
>telephone services in many Caribbean markets, is facing growing
>competition, especially in the mobile sector, where Mossel-owned Digicel
>has made a meteoric ascent. From 2001, when it first launched GSM services
>in Jamaica, it has grown into a pan-regional mobile provider, with
>operations in 15 Caribbean nations.
>
>Cuba: The country occupies the very last place in Latin America for both
>mobile phone and Internet penetration, and is fifth from the last in
>fixed-line teledensity. The government has blamed the embargo for the
>country's poor telecom development, as the difficult relationship with the
>USA prevented the implementation of submarine fibre-optic cables; thus,
>Cuba has had to rely almost exclusively on satellites for international
>connectivity. But Cubans cannot legally buy a computer or subscribe to an
>ISP without having a government permit. Mobile rates are prohibitive for
>the vast majority of Cubans. Etecsa, controlled 73% by the government and
>27% by Telecom Italia, holds a monopoly in both fixed and mobile services.
>It offers GSM, TDMA, and AMPS services through its subsidiary Cubacel.
>
>Dominican Republic: Telecommunications in the Dominican Republic is one of
>the fastest growing and most competitive industry sectors. Fixed-line
>teledensity (around 10%) is, however, well below the Latin American
>average, the country's fixed line network having been repeatedly destroyed
>by violent hurricanes. Mobile penetration, on the other hand, is more than
>three times higher than fixed-line teledensity, and is about average for
>Latin America. Verizon Dominicana is the dominant provider of fixed-line
>and mobile telephony, as well as Internet services. The market for
>high-speed Internet is still young and there is enormous potential for
>growth. The location of the Dominican Republic ensures fairly high
>Internet speeds. The telephone cable that connects Europe to the USA runs
>close by and allows for excellent connectivity. However, Internet uptake
>is relatively low, and user penetration, at around 9%, is below average
>for Latin America.
>
>Haiti: Fixed-line teledensity in Haiti is the lowest in Latin America, and
>mobile penetration is the second lowest after Cuba. Political unrest has
>severely affected investments in a country where most people have no
>electricity, telephones, or running water. Fixed-line services are
>provided by state-owned monopoly operator Teleco, which is inefficient and
>poorly managed. Mobile telephony, instead, is open to competition. Digicel
>has become the fourth mobile operator, entering the market in 2006.
>Although only affordable by the wealthy, mobile phones overtook fixed
>lines in service in 2002. There are now more than twice as many mobile
>customers as there are fixed-line subscribers, even though mobile
>penetration is only around 4%. Internet access is also open to
>competition. WLL and VoIP are being used to supplement the shortage of
>fixed lines.
>
>Jamaica: The island has a fairly advanced telecom infrastructure,
>containing a hybrid mix of fixed-line and wireless technologies.
>Fixed-line teledensity, however, is one of the lowest in the Caribbean,
>although it is about average for the Latin American region as a whole.
>Despite liberalisation and the award of numerous licences, Cable &
>Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) continues to dominate the Jamaican fixed-line
>telecom scene. Mobile telephony, on the other hand, has experienced a
>remarkable boom since the market was opened to competition, so much so
>that there are about six mobile phones for every fixed line in service.
>The mobile market is served by three digital networks. Internet access on
>the island is still predominantly narrowband, but the number of broadband
>subscribers is growing rapidly. C&WJ provides the only backbone connection
>to the Internet. This has resulted in a skewed Internet bandwidth-pricing
>regime.
>
>Companies Mentioned
>
>- Empresa de Telecomunicaciones del Cuba SA (Etecsa) - Verizon Dominicana
>(formerly Codetel) - Tricom - Centennial Dominicana - Turitel SA -
>Economitel - Broadband market - GoTel Communications Ltd - Telefonos de
>Mexico (Telmex) - Avantel - Alestra - Axtel - Maxcom - Marcatel - Iusatel
>- Protel - Megacable - Miditel (suspended) - Puerto Rico Telephone Company
>(PRTC) - Centennial de Puerto Rico (CPR) - Telefonica Larga Distancia de
>Puerto Rico (TDL)
>
>For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c34963
Received on Fri Mar 31 09:22:00 2006