Broadband internet access grows 51 percent in Brazil

Broadband internet access grows 51 percent in Brazil

BRASILIA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil reached 38.5 million pointsof access to broadband internet (fixed and mobile) in the firstquarter of 2011, an increase of 51.5 percent compared with theamount recorded in late March 2010, according to a report releasedon Tuesday by the Brazilian Association of Telecommunications(Telebrasil).

The fixed broadband access amounted to 14 million at the end ofthe quarter, expanding 20.5 percent compared with the number oneyear ago, while mobile connections totaled 24.4 million, an increaseof 77.7 percent.

The adoption of plans with speeds of less than 1 megabit persecond (Mbps) is declining, while more than 2 Mbps connectionsrepresent 20 percent of the accesses and show the highest growthrate.

The increase in broadband internet access places Brazil in theeighth position in the global market for mobile access and ninthamong the countries with highest number of fixed access, accordingto Telebrasil.

Moreover, the country leads broadband access in Latin America,with 59 percent of the total, followed by Argentina with 10 percent,Mexico with 6 percent, and Colombia, with 5 percent.

Brazil's government's target is that 80 percent of the populationwill have access to broadband by 2014 and in order to achieve that,the monthly fee will be reduced to about 30 reais (19 dollars). Thecurrent fee amount to about three times this figure.