Latin America and the Caribbean has yet to close the telecommunications network connectivity gap, but the new generation of technologies like 5G, along with the growing penetration of smartphones and devices, could mean greater chance of closing the connectivity gap, senior executives say. of Huawei told Mobile World Congress on Tuesday.
“The good news is that it will be much easier to increase this connectivity with 5G, which will provide 100 Mbps BW without cabling or complicated installation for the end user,” said Guillermo Solomon, chief digital transformation officer of Huawei. Latin America and the Caribbean, said during a roundtable with journalists from the region.
Guillermo said there is work to be done in terms of broadband deployment and adoption in the region, as around 21% of workers in Latin America and the Caribbean can work from home during the pandemic, while ‘in Europe and the United States, this figure is more than 40 percent.
Speaking at the roundtable, Paul Scanlan, Chief Digital Transformation Officer of Huawei, said that the trend of digital transformation is obviously going faster and faster.
“Connectivity will play a really, really important role in how people live and businesses operate as the world emerges from the pandemic and social and economic activities begin to recover,” the Huawei executive said.
The number of mobile internet subscribers worldwide reached 4.2 billion people in 2021, and around 94% of the world’s population lives in areas covered by mobile broadband networks, according to the Mobile Economy report 2022 released by the GSMA earlier this week.
However, the usage gap, defined as the population living in areas covered by mobile broadband networks but not yet subscribed to mobile broadband services, was 3.2 billion people.
Affordability, relevance, knowledge and skills are among the reasons for the gap, Paul said.
