Colombia’s Ranking Disguises Serious Deficiencies

Colombia’s consumer connectivity infrastructure is highlighted by good levels of mobile and PSTN penetration, along with broadband penetration that is slightly better than average.  Usage of minutes on both PSTN and mobile networks is also healthy, and literacy is better than average for the countries in the sample. 

Business infrastructure and usage are not nearly as impressive, with Colombia scoring below the median in each metric with the exception of the availability of international bandwidth and enrolment in secondary schools.  In contrast, the nation’s E-Government ranking is quite high.

Colombia’s inability to attract significant investment into its ICT sector is a serious contributor to its low overall 2009 Connectivity Scorecard performance.  Overall poverty has negatively impacted the country’s ability to take advantage of a relatively deregulated telecommunications sphere.  In order to overcome these obstacles, Colombia needs to work on political and economic stability, as well as increase its investment in human development.

Colombia Connectivity Performance by Scorecard Component