Home to sun, surf, margartias, rain forests, coffee, and cocaine
but theres something else Latin America is becoming famous for mobile tech. Mobisights reports.
Like much of the developing world, mobile phones have become the cheapest and easiest way to connect the masses. Led by the boom of Brazil that put the B in BRIC nations, the entire region is taking off. By 2015, Latin America is expected to boast over 750 million mobile users and is already one of the worlds largest markets by volume according to GSMAs Mobile Observatory report.
This number is equivalent to the connection numbers were hearing out of India right now. The region itself currently boasts 630 million connections. This translates into the fact that 3.6% of the regions GDP, or $175 billion, are generated by mobile tech. Jobs are also on the rise with 600,000 currently working in the mobile ecosystem with expectations of that reaching 1.6 million in the near future.
Another plus to Latin America is that its mobile network infrastructure is not ancient. Part of the problem with the United States is the costs of upgrading the aging infrastructure or teething subscribers off existing land line usage. By 2015, 305 million subscribers in Latin America are expected to be accessing the net via HSPA or LTE connections.
Read full article. Download full GSMA report (pdf)
