Boasting some of the the highest PC, internet and mobile penetration rates in Latin America, Chile is a land of opportunity for marketers. LatinEdge's CMO explains.

In 1993, the first web server in Latin America was set up in the computer science department at the University of Chile in Santiago. Today, Chile's internet and broadband penetration rates are the highest in Latin America (apart from a few Caribbean islands).

According to WorldStats, Chile's online population is 42.8 percent (total population is 15,666,967). The reason for this strikingly high penetration rate is twofold: Chile's triple play strategy in telecommunications and its mobile market.

According to a 2006 Budde Web Report titled "Chile -- Convergence, Broadband and Internet Market," along with the highest PC and internet penetration rates in Latin America, Chile has an impressive telecom infrastructure and regulatory system: its broadband market is a fast growing business, with cable modems growing by around 45 percent a year and ADSL access by around 108 percent. Several operators provide broadband access using ADSL, cable modem and wireless.

The report states: "Chile is the regional pioneer in terms of convergence, with VTR Globalcom having been the first operator in Latin America to develop the triple play strategy, which combines video, voice and data over one broadband platform."

The World Internet Project Chile, a longitudinal study with international comparisons of the uses, attitudes and effects of the internet in Chile at the end-user level, reported that Chilean firms report higher profitability and income due to IT than the United States and Spain. Chile's relatively earlier stage of technological adoption is the apparent reason for this.

According to Multilingual Search, a resource for the European search market: "The U.S. user will spend more time using the internet for practical reasons (online banking, travel reservations, purchases, et cetera) whereas their Chilean counterparts are more inclined to rely on the internet for less pragmatic and more socially driven reasons."

It is no surprise then that the sites Fotolog and YouTube are in the top five most trafficked sites in Chile (according to Alexa).

As mentioned, aside from highest PC and internet penetration rates, Chile has one of the highest mobile penetration rates in Latin America. At around 78 percent, Chile's mobile penetration is second only to a few Caribbean islands. Mobile subscribers outnumber fixed-line connections by almost four to one, according to an April 2007 Budde Web Report titled: "Chile -- Mobile Market -- Overview and Statistics."

Accordingly, Chile got the highest ranking in the Latin Technology Index (2005 figures were used for this index). The Latin Business Chronicles launched its Latin Technology Index, which according to Michael Schwartz of Developing Telecoms, a online resource for emerging markets, conducted a review of how 17 countries in Central and South America are rising to the challenge of boosting penetration rates in PC, fixed and wireless telephony, internet and broadband internet. As Schwartz addressed:

"When it came to wireless, subs topped 10 million: in other words two thirds of the eligible population in Chile uses a mobile. There is another country in the Americas which weighs in with 67.62 percent. Goes under the name of the United States of America…

"More locally, there is Chile's neighbour Argentina, the only Latin competitor that came anywhere near Chile, at 57.3 percent."

It is evident that Chile has a very promising future, both for online advertising opportunities as well as for mobile marketing and other emerging technologies. Chile is poised to be a major player in these industries and will grow dramatically in the future. Not only do the number of internet and broadband/mobile users increase daily, but the many initiatives that are taking place to grow this online market also are commendable.

Stay tuned for an article that will focus on the emerging online market in Argentina.

Elizabeth Lloyd is CMO, LatinEdge, Inc. Read full bio.