INTERNET DIFFUSION

Summary

Connectivity in Ecuador as a percentage of the population rests near the bottom of the list in comparison to other Latin American countries. However, growth in connectivity is strong around urban centers and an upsurge of Internet cafes (over 200 in Quito alone) indicates a strong demand for IT. Unfortunately, both consumer and commercial Internet use is tied more to being able to piggyback on the networking infrastructure of businesses than to national policy agendas. For example, Banco Pacifico's investments in private infrastructure sustain a connection to the US through Miami and Homestead, Florida centers. Banco Pacifico also provides Bitnet and Internet opportunities for academic institutions as well as commercial enterprises. However, the government has passed laws in efforts to facilitate connectivity and commerce (See Legal Environment) (Source: SOM).

ITU Internet Indicators (Source: ITU)

Internet Ratios (Source: ISOC)    

NUA's "How Many Online?" estimates of Internet users in Latin America

The tables above indicate that Ecuador has one of the lowest rates of Internet use in Latin America. No update is available at the time of this report, but one could speculate that the country remains near the bottom of the list. 

ISPs

The cost of Internet access in Latin America varies widely depending on which country one lives in, according to the report "Internet Topology and Connectivity in the Americas" released at Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network conference in Brazil. The report found that there were 215 ISPs in the region in April 1999.  Brazil had the most with forty-eight (48), followed by Mexico with forty-five (45). Trinidad & Tobago, Peru, and Costa Rica each have four (4). Belize has three (3) ISPs, the Bahamas has two (2), while Suriname, French Guyana, Ecuador, and Cuba each had one (1).

The number of ISPs in Ecuador given in the report above conflicts with our research, which found over a dozen ISPs as of December 2000. Rapid growth may explain this variance. Another explanation could be that the higher figure includes ISPs offering connectivity in Ecuador which are based in the U.S. or other areas. Cost for service in Ecuador averages around USD $45.00 per month.  While this figure seems in-line with U.S. prices, one should consider Ecuador has a total population of 12.5 million people with an average per capita income of USD $1,015 (Source: Cyberatlas).

Hosts

Computer networking in Latin America and the Caribbean is a relatively new phenomenon. Since the introduction of web-based systems, many of the regional networks have grown impressively. The Internet research company, Internet Software Consortium reports that several nations within the region have more than 1000 hosts each (as of January 2000). There are 1,922 in Ecuador. By comparison, there are 40,190 in Chile; 14,281 in Venezuela; 9,230 in Peru; 7,471 in Costa Rica; 6,754 in the Dominican Republic; 1,660 in Paraguay; 1,235 in Panama and 1,028 in Nicaragua. These statistics include only geographic or "country code," domains. They do not account for hosts in the countries registered in the "generic top level domains," ("com", "org", "net" and others).

The rate of growth of hosts in many of the Latin American countries is amongst the highest in the world.  Still, connectivity in the region remains small compared to the more information-technology-advanced countries. The number of Internet users in Latin America and the Caribbean consists of only 2 or 3% of the total worldwide Internauts. According to Jupiter Communications there will be more than 38 million Internet users in 2003 -- this projected increase of nearly 50 percent annually marks it as the region with the highest expected growth rate internationally, exceeding that of the U.S., Europe, and Asia. According to Jupiter, however, penetration within the region will remain low, reaching a projected 6.8 percent of the population in 2003 from a current penetration number of 1.8% (Source: ISOC).

This report was completed in December 2000 for the class Impacts of National Information Technology Environments on Business given by Professor Erran Carmel in the program of Management of Global Information Technology at the Kogod School of Business in Washington DC