ECLAC Will Create a Broadband Observatory in the Region

(Lima, 21 November 2010) Representatives from the Governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay met with the main operators and providers of broadband at the regional level, and asked ECLAC to set up an observatory to provide input to decision makers in countries, so that the public policies they develop can bring down the costs of broadband services.

The meeting was organized as part of the second meeting of the Regional Dialogue on the Costs of International Connections and their Impact on Broadband Prices, held in Lima, Peru, which was attended by senior officials from telecommunications and the information society, as well as stakeholders at the regional level.

The companies Oi Brasil, Telebras, Telefónica and Telefónica International Wholesale Service, Global Crossing, América Móvil, Internexa, Google, Cisco Systems, Antel and Itochu Corporation attended on 19 and 20 November to assess the impact of high-capacity transport and international Internet access on broadband service tariffs for end users.

The companies were joined by the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC), the Ibero-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunication Enterprises (AHCIET) and the Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks (RedClara), and made presentations on the impact that factors such as the region's geographical problems, lack of infrastructure and latency have on broadband costs.

Furthermore, operators and providers stressed that taxes would increase service costs for end users, and proposed public policy guidelines to promote infrastructure development and generate competition among the companies that provide broadband services.

Besides setting up the broadband observatory, ECLAC was also tasked with organizing and managing working groups to analyse the points agreed at the meeting, including the coordination of regulatory policies concerning landing points for undersea telecommunications cables and the generation of incentive policies to encourage the installation of content distribution centres and networks.

ECLAC and the countries agreed to organize a third meeting to be held in May 2011 at the headquarters of this United Nations Regional Commission in Santiago, Chile.

For more information, visit the ECLAC website.

For press queries, please contact laura.palacios@cepal.org; or felix.ibanez@cepal.org,
  from the ECLAC Public Information and Web Services Section. Mobile telephone: (56 9) 88390576.