Colombia has 17,1 million internet users

According to the most recent report by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT), presented last Friday by María del Rosario Guerra, Minister of Communications, the increase is satisfactory.

According to the report, there was a 46,4 per cent increase in the number of internet subscribers in Colombia in comparison to last year’s figures. The reasons behind the rise are bigger commercial offers and the government’s connectivity policies. This means 38,5 per cent of the country has internet access.

Cristhian Lizcano Ortiz, executive director of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, added that there is also an increase because of “demands by the users and especially because of the regulatory measures by the CRT as far as broadband is concerned”.

María del Rosario Guerra also informed that last year (until October), 1’199.330 computers were imported, an 8,5 per cent increase in comparison with 2007, when 1’104.812 were registered. This year, according to Guerra, the government will invest more in infrastructure, especially in fiber-optic communication.

The CRT also states that there was a 9,36 per cent rise in the number of Colombians who paid for mobile internet in the last three months of 2008, in comparison with the previous trimester.

In 2008, 3 billion text messages were sent among the users of mobile phones in Colombia.