Fibre Broadband Use Achieves Record Jump in LATAM

Fibre optic users in Latin America and the Caribbean increased by a record 24% in 2022, as carriers’ aggressive attempts to acquire new consumers drove rates down.

The expansion of cable TV providers and smaller telecom firms into broadband services may have pushed more households to subscribe to the service, BNAmericas reported, citing the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA).

As of December 2022, around 115 million homes in the region had access to high-speed networks, an increase of 12 million compared to the previous year.

The total number of fiber optic customers in the region will reach 100 million over the next four years, the FBA said in its report.

With 22 million subscribers, Brazil is the largest market for optical broadband service providers, followed by Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.

Trinidad & Tobago tops the region in terms of coverage, with 95% of the population having access to high-speed networks. According to the survey, broadband access is also widespread in Barbados and Uruguay.

However, the great majority of fixed-line broadband service providers have confined their operations to metropolitan areas and refuse to expand into rural regions where network construction is costly.

Meanwhile, the lack of competition among telcos is leading to higher prices and lower quality of services in some countries.