Internet in Venezuela: the worst in Latin America

The quality of Internet in the country is the worst in Latin America, according to a study presented by the Press and Society Institute (IPYS).

The quality of Internet in the country is the worst in Latin America, according to a study presented by the Press and Society Institute (IPYS).

In Venezuela, users browse with a daily average of 1.6 megabits per second in home, office and other fixed broadband connections. This speed represents less than half the average speed in the region (5.6 mbps). While the connection speed in Costa Rica is 12.41 mbps, in Panama it is 7.86 mbps and in Suriname, one of the poorest nations on the continent, it is 1.78 mbps. The global average peak connection speed increased 28% year-on-year to 44.6 Mbps in the first quarter of 2017. The Republic of Korea maintains the highest average connection speed worldwide (up 9.3% from the fourth quarter of 2016), while Singapore continues to have the highest peak connection speed of 184.5 Mbps.

By September 2017, 52% of the world's population did not have access to the Internet, according to the report of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for telecommunications), which puts us in a difficult situation with regard to the idea of digital literacy. However, the report states that 60% of the Venezuelan population has access to the Internet. The percentage places us above the world average and this is clearly an advantage among so many drawbacks. Mobile technology has a major impact on such data and communication possibilities should be focused on these devices.

In a situation as complex as this, it is important to make the most of the communication tools at our disposal. Despite the problems of connection, such a high average of Internet access in the country translates into greater possibilities to transmit information, use existing tools in our daily work, and thus overcome existing obstacles in our daily lives.

The poster illustrating the article was created by me and is based on the poster from Steven Spielberg's 1993 film, Jurassic Park, and is intended only as a graphic reference for this informative article.