No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveCosta Rica improves broadband access

Costa Rica improves broadband access

Costa Rica’s broadband Internet access is improving but still lags behind many developing nations, according to the State of Broadband Report 2013 from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 

Broadband Internet access is “essential” to modern society, according to UNESCO, and the World Bank estimates that a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration could yield 1.21 to 1.38 percent for high-income and low/middle-income countries, respectively.

The report defines broadband as “always on, high-capacity connectivity enabling combined provision of multiple services simultaneously.”

The Central American country improved the most in mobile broadband Internet access, up to 81st place in the world in 2012 from 104th in 2011, according to the UNESCO report, bringing the total to 14.5 Ticos per 100 with mobile Internet access.

The report estimated that Internet-ready smartphones could make up half the sales of all mobile phones by 2016.

While mobile penetration is up, Costa Rica still lags behind the world average of 22.1 per 100 inhabitants. 

Costa Rica had the third-highest percentage of households with Internet in Latin America, at 47.3 percent, behind Uruguay (48.4 percent) and Argentina (47.5 percent). The percentage of households with broadband access also increased from 33.6 percent in 2011.

The report laments that while much of the developed world enjoys access to high-speed Internet connections over 5 Mbps, the same cannot be said for much of Africa, southern Asia and Latin America. 

Trending Now

Costa Rica’s Rare Birds at Risk as Human Activity Threatens Extinction

Costa Rica’s bare-necked umbrellabird, a striking black bird with a red throat pouch and crest, is in trouble. A new study in Nature Ecology...

Costa Rica and Panama Seek Gold Cup Glory Against North American Giants

With no Caribbean teams advancing, a Central American contingent made up of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala heads into the quarterfinals of the...

Costa Rica’s Pride 2025 Closing Event Bans Minors, Sparks Outrage

Costa Rica’s Pride 2025 closing event, set for June 29 at San José’s Plaza de la Democracia, was thrown into controversy when the government...

Costa Rica’s Piangua Mollusk Threatened by Pineapple Farm Runoff

Costa Rica’s Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland, a 33,000-hectare haven of mangroves and rivers, is under siege from an unlikely source: pineapple farms. A study by...

Costa Rica’s Eyelash Viper Snake Is One of the Most Beautiful

There are at least 141 different species of snakes in Costa Rica. With that large number of species packed into such a tiny nation,...

Costa Rica’s Top Court Bans President Chaves from 2026 Election Campaign

Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Thursday barred President Rodrigo Chaves from participating in the 2026 election campaign, ruling that he "illegitimately used" his...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica