Broadband and the Cloud
19 de April de 2010Below is Locaweb CEO Gilberto Mautner’s blog post to Brazilian “Info Exame” magazine’s cloud computing blog from March 12th.
It discusses data about broadband penetration in Brazil and other countries, and how its adoption is a requirement for the new cloud applications.
The cloud is (still) for a select few
It’s no use talking about cloud computing as long as people don’t have one of the basic tools needed to use it: broadband internet access.
Whether it’s for hosting a server on the cloud, managing an online store, or using a “web 2.0″ application, not to mention voice and video, people need access. And not just any old dial-up access…
So it would be useful to ask yourself: What’s the situation like in Brazil? What percentage of the population has access to broadband? Do you know?
The data is easy to obtain using a quick search, and the results are bittersweet.
The good: Brazil seems to be one of the main broadband growth regions in the world.
The bad: This happens in part because of the incredibly low broadband penetration in a country that is moving towards becoming the world’s fourth largest economy.
First, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of the “Cisco Brazil Broadband Survey”, conducted by IDC on behalf of Cisco: only 5.8% of the Brazilian population had broadband access in the first half of 2009.
That means that 6 of every 100 Brazilians can enjoy the benefits of the cloud. The remaining 94 are stuck for the time being in a pre-historic internet world.
What’s the situation like in other countries?
I found an OECD ranking with the top 30 broadband penetrations among member countries, with the Netherlands at the top position (38.1%) and Mexico at the trailing end (8.4%). Yeah, Brazil, the 4th economy wannabe, doesn’t even show up in the top 30.
Why are we so far behind?
Some people blame the high prices on the high tax burden on telecommunications services. If the government considers broadband access to be strategic, like recent news of the resurrection of the State-controlled telecommunications company “Telebrás” suggest, isn’t it logical to question why governments don’t bring down this barrier? This has started happening in a few cases such as the decision by the São Paulo state government to exempt of state taxes services with speeds up to 1 Mbps. It’s a start.
But will that be enough to make “broadband in this country” a reality like president Lula recently said during the announcement of the return of Telebrás?
How about you, what do you think is holding back the adoption of broadband “in this country” in the amount it really needs in order to develop the use of the internet and the cloud by all of its citizens?
Original post in Portuguese here.