Uruguay leads Latin America in technology and broadband penetration. Here a student in Uruguay using a laptop from the One Laptop per Child foundation. (Photo: US Embassy in Uruguay)
Argentina and Panama have Latin America's highest cellphone penetration, although Brazil leads in overall subscription numbers. (Photo: Government of Santa Catarina, Brazil)
Uruguay has replaced Chile as Latin America’s top technology country, while Panama has replaced Uruguay as the second-highest wireless penetration country, according to the fourth annual Latin Technology Index from Latin Business Chronicle.
The index of 20 countries provides a unique comparison of the technology level of each Latin American country by looking at the penetration rates of Internet, broadband Internet, personal computers (PCs), wireless subscribers and fixed telephone lines. It uses 2008 technology data from Computer Industry Almanac, the International Telecommunications Union and the Santiago Chamber of Commerce and population data from the International Monetary Fund and the Population Reference Bureau.
All countries improved their score, albeit at different levels. Panama’s score improved most, while Ecuador and Haiti were the worst when it came to changing their technology level.
Key developments in the 2009 index include:
Panama replacing Venezuela as the Latin American nation with the fourth-highest technology level.
El Salvador replacing Costa Rica as Central America’s top technology nation.
Meanwhile, Cuba remains the least developed tech nation, followed by Haiti and Nicaragua.
In terms of tech categories, the winners and losers are:
Wireless: Argentina leads, while Cuba is worst.
Fixed telecom: Costa Rica leads, while Haiti is worst.
PC’s: Uruguay leads, while the Dominican Republic is worst.
Internet: Chile leads, while Nicaragua is worst.
Broadband: Uruguay leads, while Haiti is worst.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment