BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, August 28, 2006 - Cisco Systems presented the Cisco Broadband Barometer, an indicator that will show the high-speed Internet growth for Argentina, and proposed a goal of 4 million connections for the year 2010.

The study, sponsored by Cisco and prepared by Argentina's IDC consulting company, shall be published every six months, in order to measure the evolution of the number of connections and the development of the Argentine Broadband market.

As part of its vision to promote accelerated Broadband growth in Argentina, Cisco proposed the goal of reaching 4 million high-speed connections by the year 2010 - based on the existing 1,043,289 connections at present - and, in this way, drive the country's economic development, competitiveness and productivity.

This goal has been endorsed by the government of Argentina. Carlos Lisandro Salas, Communications Secretary for the Nation and Ceferino Namuncurá, head of the National Communications Commission, were present during the presentation of the Cisco Broadband Barometer initiative.

"The possibility of having high-speed connections is not an unimportant matter, since it determines the way in which our country can position itself in the information economy and the knowledge society. At Cisco, we have been supporting and fostering the movement towards Broadband for several years now, this representing one of our main policies on a worldwide scale. We defend and support those factors that directly and indirectly contribute to growth and development of the societies where we work, and Broadband is one of them: a fundamental and determining one," stated Sebastian Ballerini, General Manager at Cisco Systems Argentina.

Broadband in Argentina

In its first edition, the Cisco Broadband Barometer indicates that, as of March 2006, Argentina had 1,043,289 Broadband connections and a 2.7 % penetration in its total population. Albeit this is one of the highest indices in Latin America, there is still a long way to go, if one compares it with the indices for other countries, such as Spain (7 %), Canada (18 %) and Korea (26 %).

Based on the analysis by access technology, user segment and geographic distribution, the following results were obtained:

• The number of Broadband connections between December 2005 and March 2006 recorded a 9.5 % growth.
• The forecast for 2006 is 44 % growth in Broadband connections in comparison with 2005.
• ADSL and Cable Modem access technologies are the ones with greatest penetration in the country. ADSL, in turn, is the technology that exhibited the greatest growth in number of lines, with a 10.8 % increase during the first quarter of the year.
• ADSL and Cable Modem are clearly concentrated in the Home segment (90.9 %) and in Small Enterprises. Many SMEs are entering the Broadband market with dedicated lines, thanks to new and enhanced offerings by service providers. Moreover, Satellite links are concentrated in small enterprises, particularly in the interior of the country.
• The fiber optics corridor, which comprises the Province of Buenos Aires, the City of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Santa Fe, represents 67 % of the total population in Argentina and concentrates 91.6 % of all Broadband connections in the country.
• The Provinces of Buenos Aires, Neuquén, San Luis, La Pampa, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego are the ones that exhibit the highest Broadband penetration in the total population, reaching figures that exceed 2 %.
• The mix of connection speeds is richer than that in other countries in the region, with a higher weighting for 1MB and higher, and a lower weighting for less than 160Kb. This is due to the fact that the installed Broadband base is new as in full growth. This profile for access speeds is typical for a market that is in the process of maturing.

The importance of Broadband

Broadband represents special implications for each of the following sectors and activities:

Education: The possibility of offering multimedia content, on-line training and other sophisticated learning tools, and being able to do so independently of one's social position or geographic location, depends on an adequate Broadband infrastructure. With Broadband, education becomes available to all, learning is not confined to a specific place or time, but rather becomes a process that is continuous and is accessible everywhere and at any time.

Health: Videoconferencing systems permit medical doctors to treat their patients in the most remote areas of the country, helping reduce the costs and delivering enhanced services to the population. In the future, with the Broadband infrastructure, citizens will be able to receive medical consultation on line with an expert medical doctor, at any hour of the day, from the comfort of their home. Health professionals can work with a single patient file, on line, as well as performing consultations with other professionals.

Enterprises: Companies of all sizes can be more productive and competitive with the implementation of business solutions based on the Internet, such as e-commerce and platforms to manage the supply chain and logistics, optimization of their workforce, and mobility solutions, such as remote work.

Security: Advanced communications and video surveillance systems help improve citizen security. Access points allow people to communicate easily and quickly with emergency services, while the authorities will be able to respond more rapidly and better.

Entertainment: Broadband delivers a new set of entertainment technologies, including high-definition video over the Internet, CD-quality radio over the Internet, sharing photograph files, and home video, as well as a new generation of on-line games.

Government: Broadband will allow the central government and municipalities to offer more and better services to their citizens and to enhance their communications with them. The possibility of processing licenses and permits on line, without having to go to the entities in person, as well as gaining access to legal files, are but a few examples of how to bring the governments closer to the citizens. Many cities are creating Broadband infrastructures that are more accessible, in order to attract more companies and businesses to their locations.