Investment in digital infrastructure, connectivity Investment, coverage and quality of digital infrastructures in Latin America Panel A: CAF digital infrastructure index by region. OECD
80 60 40
OCDE
Africa
Western Europe
North America
Latin America and the Caribbean
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
0
2004
20
World Asia and Pacific
Panel B: Comparison of LAC vs. OECD by area
80 60 40
73,8 55,7
43,1
29,0
20 0
58,4
50,1
15,0
13,7 INDEX
Investment
Coverage
Quality of service
Note: The digital infrastructure index is calculated on three components: investment, coverage and quality of service. The investment includes telecommunications capital expenditures per capita (USD smoothed over 5 years) according to ITU, and investment in big data, data centers, the cloud, the IoT; coverage includes fixed and mobile networks, and quality includes network speed and development of critical infrastructure such as IXPs and secure servers. Source: Ecosystem and Digital Economy Observatory (2020).
For CAF, “digital infrastructures must have sufficient capacity to reach the entire population at affordable prices, with sufficient capacity and quality. The percentage of households connected to fiber optics in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019 was estimated at 12.4%, well below the average for Spain (54.3%) or the OECD (34.0%).” According to the report “Technological Revolution and Social Inclusion” presented by the United Nations and ECLAC, the challenge is to reach 31% of the population that is excluded from information and knowledge services. To which they propose that: “the policies to be developed in this area include the development of
50
universal broadband, with a prospective focus on ultrafast broadband (accesses of more than 30 Mbps)”. Notes: The digital infrastructure index is calculated on three components: investment, coverage and quality of service. The primary objective for the commission is to provide greater coverage, capacity and quality by improving backbone, access and international connectivity infrastructures. Funding for the deployment of these infrastructures can be provided in various ways, depending on their specific nature: multilateral financing of public initiative projects;
