Internet Users

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Number of internet users
Internet users
2000878000.00
20011154000.00
20021890021.50
20033084232.00
20043865860.00
20054738544.00
20066705000.00
200712331926.00
200817329656.00
200920788818.00

Broadband users

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Number of users with fixed broadband
Broadband users
20008872.00
200113830.00
200234888.00
200364436.00
2004127113.00
2005318683.00
2006628077.00
20071207090.00
20081902844.00
20092117877.00

Number of Cellulars

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Number of cellular phones
Cellular users
1995274590.00
1996522857.00
19971264763.00
19981800229.00
19991966535.00
20002256801.00
20013265261.00
20024596594.00
20036186206.00
200410400578.00
200521849992.00
200629762716.00
200733941120.00
200841364724.00
200942159612.00

Communication

It is possible to use your cell phone to call in Colombia. The cell has to have support for the 850 Mhz or 1900 MHz band. But most of the cell phones in the United States have that. The cost of making and receiving calls in Colombia with a US SIM card are not insignificant to mention. GPRS data services are most of the time only available in the larger cities of Colombia. Voice and text services are also in the smaller cities. The coverage is largely in the west of Colombia from north to south west.
Below is a table with some information what the cost would be at the time of writing this piece. All prices are for a subscription. Prices from 07-11-2009. Prepaid cell phone you better leave at home. 


Operator Answering a call a minute Call to United States a minute SMS (Send / Receive) Data
Sprint $ 2.29 / $ 1.99* $ 2.29 / $ 1.99* No information $ 0.016 / KB
T-Mobile $ 2.99 $ 2.99 $ 0.35 / $0.20 $ 15 / MB
AT&T Mobility $ 2.29 / $ 1.99* $ 2.29 / $ 1.99* $ 0.50 / Normal rate $ 0.0195 / KB
Cincinnati Bell $ 2.89 $ 2.89 No information $ 0.0195 / KB or
$19.99 / MB

 * Only with a special subscription for international calls.

Besides mobile telephony there are call shops in Colombia where you can call to the United States can call them for only a few dollars. There are also plenty of internet cafes for you to find so that you can e-mail your friends and family. These costs are currently around $ 0.50 a hour.

Local people and telephony

According to the figures of Dane in 2008 83.8% of Colombian families has a cell phone. Compared to 2003 when this percentage was only 17.7% can you see what the hype the cell phone has been in recent years. The figures against the income of the people gives a better picture. 

Percentage of cell phones by income in 2008
Income % No % Yes
0 tot 1,5 times the minimum wage 22,8 77,2
1,5 tot 5 times the minimum wage 6,9 93,1
5 and higher times the minimum wage 1,7 98,3

 

It appears from the figures that no matter how much you earn everyone can buy a mobile phone. Keep in mind that a fixed telephone line costs are fixed and with a prepaid mobile you only pay what you consume. This also ensures that a lot of people no longer have a fixed line, but a cell phone because you only "expensive" thing is the purchase of it. The percentage of fixed lines dropped in 2008 from 54.7% to 44.3% in 2003. This also confirms the picture described above.

 

Percentage of fixed telephone lines to income in 2008
Income % No % Yes
0 tot 1,5 times the minimum wage 66,3 33,7
1,5 tot 5 times the minimum wage 46,4 53,4
5 and higher times the minimum wage 16,6 83,4

 

In 2003, 14.9% of the Colombians had a fixed telephone and cell phone. In 2008 this figure had already risen to 40.1%.

Television, Computers and Internet

Although Colombia often is described as a 3rd world country the following figures open a lot of eyes. The figures provide a picture of modern communication means.

 

Percentage of households with access to ICT-related goods or services
Medium Total 2003 % Total 2008 % Urban 2003 % Urban 2008 % Rest 2003 % Rest 2008 %
Color TV  76,7 88,5  86,5 93,1 45,0 72,2
DVD player 2,2 47,1 2,8 54,1  0,2 22,2 
Computer 11,2 22,8 14,4 28,5 0,9 2,5
TV with cable or satellite  35,5 48,3 45,2 59,1 4,4 9,9 
Internet access* 5,5 12,8 7,1 16,4 0,3 0,4

 

* Internet access is also the internet cafe in the street.


Cellurar VS hard lines

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Cellular vs hard telephone lines
Cellular usersTelephone lines
20002256801.007192778.00
20013265261.007371545.00
20024596594.007766000.00
20036186206.007848266.00
200410400578.007588676.00
200521849992.007678804.00
200629762716.007860205.00
200733941120.007935720.00
200841364724.008053796.00
200942159612.007500396.00