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Connect Puerto Rico: Broadband access has expanded

•About 86 percent of households across the island have service available at basic speeds of 768 Kbps download/200 Kbps upload, which remains unchanged from prior updates.

About 86 percent of households across the island have service available at basic speeds of 768 Kbps download/200 Kbps upload, which remains unchanged from prior updates.

New research unveiled Wednesday by Connect Puerto Rico shows that nearly 85 percent of Puerto Rico households have access to fixed broadband at advertised speeds of at least 3 Mbps download/768 Kbps upload, up from 57 percent one year ago. This represents significant network expansion across the island.

The nonprofit group, commissioned by the Puerto Rico Chief Information Office, has been working since 2009 to evaluate broadband access, adoption, and use in Puerto Rico and promote the economic, educational, health, safety, and quality of life benefits derived from this increasingly needed technology.

Among the key findings in the most recent report are:

  • About 86 percent of households across the island have service available at basic speeds of 768 Kbps download/200 Kbps upload, which remains unchanged from prior updates.
  • 85 percent of Puerto Rico households now have access to fixed broadband at advertised speeds of 3 Mbps download/768 Kbps upload, which is an increase from 57 percent one year ago.
  • 56 percent of Puerto Rico households now have access to fixed broadband at advertised speeds of 6 Mbps download/1.5 Mbps upload, which is an increase from 34 percent one year ago.
  • For the first time ever, more than 3,000 households now have access to fiber broadband.

Connect Puerto Rico is working with each of the island’s broadband providers to create detailed maps of broadband coverage and to assess the current state of broadband adoption, community-by-community, across Puerto Rico.

“The group will continue to develop and update the broadband data over time, ensuring that the island’s policymakers and citizens alike are equipped with this important information,” the nonprofit group said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Connect Puerto Rico’s efforts are funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s State Broadband Initiative grant program through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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1 Comment

  1. Francisco Montalvo December 13, 2012

    Muy buenas noticias para la Isla. Esto es crítico para la competitividad de Puerto Rico.

    Reply

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