SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, September 24, 2010 - Cisco announced today the results of the Cisco® Broadband Barometer, reporting a growth of 15.5 percent in fixed broadband connections during the second half of 2009. The growth in broadband connections was lower than it was during the first half of 2009, when connections grew more than 20 percent.

According to the Barometer, a six-month study prepared by the CAATEC Foundation and commissioned by Cisco, Costa Rica reached 308,520 fixed broadband connections, which represents a penetration of 6.9 connections per 100 inhabitants.

In December 2009 the country needed 16,480 more fixed broadband connections to reach the goal of 325,000 connections in December 2010, proposed by the Cisco Broadband Barometer and the government of Costa Rica.

In Latin America, Chile (10.4 percent), Argentina (10 percent) and Uruguay (10 percent) are the countries with the highest broadband penetration.

Highlights

• During the second half of 2009, around 41,445 connections were added to the fixed broadband market in Costa Rica.
• Costa Rican homes continue to be the segment where most connections are concentrated. During the second half of 2009 they grew 12.9 percent and reached 230,120 connections.
• The enterprise segment grew 16.7 percent and reached 64,558 broadband connections.
• The government sector doubled its number of connections, reaching 11,100, while the educational sector decreased slightly, from 2,794 connections to 2,742.
• Nearly half (42 percent) of the broadband connections have speeds between 512 kilobits per second and 1 megabit per second, and 26.6 percent are in the range of 1 and 2 Mbps. Connections faster than 2 Mbps doubled, reaching 34,786.
• Broadband connections continue to be concentrated in urban areas. The regions with the highest penetration were Montes de Oca (19.4 percent), Escazú (19 percent) and Santo Domingo (17.6 percent). The regions with lower penetration were Guácimo (0.7 percent), Los Chiles (0.8 percent) and Matina (1 percent).
• ADSL connections grew 16.5 percent during the second half of 2009, while cable modem levels grew 5.5 percent. WiMAX reached a growth of 15 percent.
• In Costa Rica there are 1,672,798 Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) lines, of which only 6 percent have mobile Internet service with speeds of at least 128 Kbps.

Supporting Quotes

• Ravi Lingam, general manager, Cisco Central America

"Investments in broadband infrastructure have a significant impact on the economic development of our countries: They generate high productivity, reduce costs, open up new opportunities, provide more employment, foster innovation and increase imports and exports."

"It is fundamental that both public and private sectors generate new opportunities to increase both broadband penetration and quality of the connections in the country."

"According to studies by the World Bank, the benefits offered by broadband in terms of growth and productivity will depend on the priority that our government gives to strategic investments for developing ICT and in establishing public-private alliances in order to improve our connectivity conditions. "

Supporting Sources:

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