Telecommunications in Latin America during the last decade: reaching the rest of the world

Abstract

In the last 10 years, the telecommunications sector in Latin America has substantially advanced. The digital divide with respect to the rest of the world has been narrowed, the traditional services —fixed and mobile— were multiplied by 6, many new services emerged, prices and use dropped, the total sector incomes showed a yearby-year increase, and the investments were above 164 billion dollars. However, as time passes by, Latin America has seen at all its position to change in the ranking of the Availability Network Rate (ANR). It is mainly due to the fact that the investment has not been enough: the investment breach if compared with the developed countries is still of about 300 billion dollars, equivalent to 120% of what has been invested in the region in the last twenty years. There are public policies that could help promote this investment.