“INTERNET SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE IN CHILE” PDF Print
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Political Leader Sergio Bitar Pushes Plan To Wire The Entire Country
Party For Democracy (PPD) President Sergio Bitar proposed last week connecting all of Chile’s households to the Internet by as early as 2010. Bitar’s initiative demonstrates the Internet’s growing presence in Chile, which is arguably becoming Latin America’s most wired country. Bitar told The Santiago Times that it is important that Chile connects all its citizens to the Internet, “for the same reason why it was so important to bring electricity to Chilean households at the start of the 20th century. It is essential if this country wants to develop.”
Chile already boasts both the highest rates of broadband connectivity and the greatest general Internet use in Latin America., according to a January report by The Latin America Broadband Barometer (sponsored by California-based tech company Cisco). The country ended 2006 with 1,034,000 broadband Internet connections, or nearly 6.8 dedicated connections per every 100 Chileans.
This compares very well to second place Argentina, with a 3.2 percent penetration rate; Brazil with 2.6 percent; Peru and Costa Rica with 1.5 percent; and Colombia with 1.1 percent, according to the most recent statistics available from the Cisco Barometer.
Chile also leads all Latin American countries with a general Internet penetration rate of 42.4 percent. Chile is followed by Argentina at 34 percent, Costa Rica at 22.2 percent, Mexico at 19 percent, Peru at 15.8 percent, Brazil at 13.9 percent, and Colombia at 12.9 percent. In comparison, 69.6 percent of U.S. residents have access to the Internet, while globally, 16.6 percent of the world’s 6.5 billion people surf the net (ST, Feb. 8).
Bitar, who has also served at various times over the past 17 years as Chile’s Education Minister, Mining Minister, and a Region II Senator, divides his plan into three stages. The first step consists of investing government funds in the infrastructure, including fiber optic cables, necessary to connect Chilean households. Bitar asserted that the government of President Michelle Bachelet has already taken the lead in accomplishing that goal.
“Bachelet has already set the tone with respect to the growth of Internet in Chile. In the 2008 budget, she set aside US$80 million for the country’s telecommunications fund. That money will be geared towards the country’s broadband connections. Additionally, the government is planning to set aside US$80 million more for 2009 (…) consequently, based on our calculations, we will be able to get the country connected in 2010,” he said.
The plan’s second and third phases involve subsidizing monthly Internet costs and computer purchases for Chile’s families. The subsidies, Bitar said, would help families who would not ordinarily have means to pay. Currently, only 25 percent of Chilean families can afford to connect themselves to the Internet, according to Bitar’s calculations. But he believes bringing the Internet to poor families represents a golden opportunity for the government to fight social exclusion and inequality.
“Internet still has to become an even greater priority for the government. The government need to see that this initiative would contribute to other areas, including education, business, and Chilean culture. The government should also view this initiative as a way to reduce social exclusion and the country’s inequality,” Bitar said.
Another challenge to Bitar’s plan is the high monthly cost of Internet bills, which average 25,000 pesos (US$50) per month. Bitar believes that with increased competition Internet bills could drop to about 5,000 pesos (US$10) monthly. “Government subsidies would encourage competition and cause Internet prices to fall. Internet prices right now are too high,” Bitar told The Santiago Times.
Chile’s high Internet costs have drawn harsh criticism in the past. A group of technological experts known as The Committee of Ministers for Digital Development disclosed in July that Chileans pays the second highest rate in the world for broad band connection, after only Turkey, and that the quality of broadband in Chile is very lacking.
After adjusting for purchasing power parity, Committee members calculated that Chileans pay just over US$80 per megabit per second (Mb/sec) of broad band internet. Regionally, Argentines and Brazilians pay just under US$80. Meanwhile, in the United States, the average cost of per Mb/sec of broad band is just a few dollars (ST, July 13).
