08/21/2008 08h47
Brazil exceeds 10 million broad band users
Gazeta Mercantil - 08/21/2008
The number of Internet broad band connections in Brazil exceeded 10 million in the first half of this year, a 48% growth compared to twelve months ago, when such number reached 6.78 million. The numbers are part of the 10
th edition of the Broadband Barometer study, released by Cisco Systems, which expected Brazil should exceed the goal of 10 million accesses this year, and it now foresees that will reach 15 million in 2008. Only 4.96 million connections are required to reach the figure. Taking into account only the different forms of fixed access (dedicated IP, ADSL, cable modem, fixed wireless, and satellite, among others), there was a 33.2% growth from the end of the first half of last year, when they amounted to 6.55 million, to the half of this year, with 8.72 million. There was a much stronger increase in the base of mobile broadband users, which, last June, reached the total amount of 1.314 million subscribers, meaning a growth of 464% compared to the base of 233 thousand subscribers from the previous year. The number takes into account only the packages sold for access to personal computers (PCs), not the accesses from mobile Internet by means of third generation telephones (3G). The study also revealed that the penetration of broadband connections in the Country reaches 4.6% of the population and 13% of the households. The State of São Paulo is responsible for 38.7% of the accesses. South Korea, world leader in percentage of accesses, has penetration above 26% of the population and 65% of households.
