OECD: Chile among the countries with the highest growth in fiber optic

The South American country ranks sixth among the organization’s 38 member states, behind Belgium, Austria, Israel, Ireland and the United Kingdom. 

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has placed Chile in sixth place among the countries with the highest growth in its fiber optic connections during 2020, according to an update report on broadband usage statistics.  

Chile ranks after Belgium, Austria, Israel, Ireland and the United Kingdom as the only members of the organization that increased their fiber optic connections by more than 50% last year. The importance of this lies in the fact that this technology is replacing ADSL connections, which combine copper with fiber.  

The latest update of the OECD’s broadband portal showed that fiber optic now exceeds 30% of the fixed broadband subscriptions among the organization’s 38 member states, compared with 12% a decade ago. Fiber optic is the fastest growing broadband technology by far, with subscriptions up 14% compared to 2019 and an increase of 5% in total fixed broadband subscriptions.  

Telecommunications Undersecretary Francisco Moreno highlighted that the OECD report is an important endorsement to encourage the placement of new high-speed networks throughout the country.   

“We will continue to roll out paths for the placement of 5G technology and the digitalization of Chilean territory. Better connections will provide considerable leaps in the quality of life of Chilean families, promoting teleworking, distance learning and telemedicine, and will allow us to strengthen the digital economy and incentivize the creation of apps and startups,” Mr. Moreno explained.  

The OECD also recognized Chile as one of the countries with the highest mobile data consumption per user in 2020. The list was headed by Finland, with 31 gigabytes (GB) per subscription per month, followed by Austria (25.8 GB), Latvia (23 GB), Lithuania (20.5 GB), Iceland (16.7 GB), Estonia (16 GB), Chile (12.8 GB) and Sweden (12 GB).  

Foreign investment in fiber optics  

Chile’s digital infrastructure is attracting large multinational companies.  

To find out about the foreign companies investing in Chile’s fiber optic network, check out the following article.   

Source: Diario Financiero