Spatial aspects of Internet infrastructure development in Latin America

Abstract

Since the appearance of the Internet, fast and reliable communication systems have become indispensable elements of the economic and social organization and progress of Latin American cities. The Internet infrastructure of the new telecommunication systems has a completely new global scope, and its main nodes are the metropolises and large cities. However, the growing awareness of the relevance of information and communication technologies (ICTs), the pace of technological change and the continuous transformation of the business environment in the sector made it difficult to understand this infrastructure and of its meaning for cities and their urban systems. Technological changes are an integral part of social and economic change and, according to Kondratiev's concept, have been located in the long-term cycles of economic growth. Kondratiev argues that economic growth occurs in a cyclical fashion, driven by large-scale technological innovations. Based on this idea, four major technological cycles in the modern economy were identified. The fifth would be ICT and biotechnology, which began in the year 2000. Technological cycles have shaped the nature of the main distribution channels, which in turn shaped urban transformations. Kondratiev cycles relate to the major distribution networks: canals and waterways, railways, paved roads, and airways. The fifth Kondratiev wave will probably have telecommunication networks (broadband and wireless) as its main distribution channels. Throughout history the most visible transformations occurred at the top of the cycles, like the one we are experiencing now. The recent technological innovations that make up the urban space are then related to the new ICT distribution networks. The architecture and deployment of the ICT infrastructure is placed at the center of the telecommunications sector, which has been subject to constant far-reaching changes since the early 1990s. Its main manifestations are:a) Rapid and continuous adaptation to innovations in the field of telecommunications. In less than a decade. Internet and mobile telephony have become ubiquitous in developed countries and increasingly important in the rest of the world. This forced companies and networks to adapt to new technological and business contexts.b) Changes in the regulatory structure. Legal reforms in telecommunications have ended state monopolies in most countries. The sector is rapidly moving from public regulation to a mainly private and competitive business environment, run by large corporations, many of them global in scope.c) Internet boom, which attracted large investments, which make up a sector of global operators. This boom has incited great risks and caused great mistakes, which increase the instability of the sector and produce the crisis in which it is now immersed. By early 2001, the telecommunications "gold rush" had died down.d) Increase in the importance of the telecommunications sector. In less than ten years, the diffusion of new technological instruments and their various applications in homes and businesses have changed our communication habits. By transforming into a commercial service, telecommunication became a facilitator of the rest of the industrial sectors and a sector of strategic importance for the economic and social progress of nations. The telecommunications sector is today the core and infrastructure of the information economy (World Bank, 2000). These transformations have not been less important in Latin America. As soon as most countries provatized and liberalized telecommunications in the 1990s, the region became a hotspot for investors. With a market of 500 million potential users mostly urban, and great expectations, the prospects that would be offered were highly profitable. "Internet fever" has ensnared international operators and independent consortiums that have invested heavily in infrastructure, including a submarine fiber optic network to connect Latin America with vital hubs in the United States. In addition, the region is now one of the most dynamic markets for mobile telephony. The growth of this sector is decisive in the levels of total teledensity, while the levels of fixed telephony remain stagnant. Currently, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru have more mobile phone subscribers than fixed line connections. The deregulation and liberalization of telecommunications in Latin America not only produced large foreign investments, but also modernized and brought state-of-the-art technology to the region. The companies that now dominate this market are among the great companies of the subcontinent. In some countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Chile and Peru they are the largest (Hilbert, 2001). In addition, there are thousands of small businesses operating in various market segments. The general objective of this work is to explore and analyze the main characteristics of the Internet communication infrastructure in Latin American metropolises, identifying its physical components and describing them in an understandable way for professional urban planners. The specific objectives are to locate the metropolises in the global and regional Internet infrastructure and to discuss how global and regional connectivity could bring to the table some spatial aspects that have not been examined in the Latin American context until now. To achieve these goals, this article is divided into three sections. The first refers to the international connectivity of the metropolises; the second deals with local connectivity; the third tries to analyze the spatial aspects related to the macro levels and their consequences in urban functioning.