Telecoms Sector Leads GDP Growth Rate

Chile's telecoms sector grew 13.9% during the first quarter of 2007, the highest rate of any industry in the economy, according to statistics published by the country's central bank.

Growth in the sector, which overshadowed the overall GDP growth rate of 5.8% for Q1, was primarily fueled by gains in the mobile telephony sector. The bank credited the increase to intense commercial campaigns at the end of the year.

Chile's mobile penetration is one of the strongest in the region at 78% at end-2006, according to the country's national statistics institute INE.

Also contributing to sector growth were increases in subscription TV and internet access. Chile has one of the highest broadband penetration rates in Latin America. According to US networking equipment vendor Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) broadband penetration was 6.8% at the end-2006, surpassing 1mn connections.

Long distance and fixed line telephony continue to decrease, following trends that have persisted over the last few years."

Posted to the site on 25th May 2007