Chile - Fixed broadband connections grew 10.4 % in 2009 Q1, by June 2009 it reached 1.6 million broadband connections

[cisco] Cisco today announced the results of Cisco's Broadband Barometer, showing that fixed broadband connections grew 10.4 % in the first semester of 2009, in comparison with the same period last year. By June 2009, Chile reached 1.6 million broadband connections across the country.

In a challenging economic period for several sectors of the Chilean economy, telecommunication services showed sustainable growth, especially in the broadband segment, having added approximately 155,000 fixed and 162,000 mobile connections to the local market during the first semester of 2009.

Key Findings:

* The results obtained in Chile for the first semester of 2009 were announced in the 22nd edition of Cisco's Broadband Barometer.
* According to the study, the improvement in broadband growth is due in part to new Internet access offerings directed towards the lower socio-economic segment, as well as new service packages of prepaid connections in the market, and low cost offers.
* Fixed broadband connection grew 16% year over year. Even though broadband penetration in Chile is the highest in Latin America (9.7% per 100 inhabitants), there is still a big gap between developed and emerging countries.
* The residential or home market continues to lead with 85% of broadband connections concentrating in this segment, while 15% corresponds to companies. Currently 31% of Chilean homes have broadband, and there are 1.6 million of broadband connections to go to reach the goal set by Cisco for 2010.
* Speeds of 512 Kbps or greater represent 70% of the market and will continue to rise, as users accelerate the demand for web 2.0 applications, cloud computing, video and social network applications. This trend was also presented in the Cisco Visual Networking Index study, which predicts an increase in Internet traffic between 2009 and 2012, attributed mainly to video.
* Up until June of this year, 74% of mobile broadband connections were concentrated in the consumer segment, reaching a growth of 70% during the first semester of 2009 and 395,000 users of this technology.
* In regards to mobile Broadband distribution per geographies, mobile broadband connection has been a growth alternative for regions that did not have coverage by traditional technologies, growing 47.7% inside the country and 52.3% in Santiago city.
* The opening of new spectrum will allow new and existing service providers to expand services, capacity, and launch robust innovative offers required to keep the broadband momentum in Chile

Broadband Gains Ground by Growing 10.4% in Chile