Tourism and agricultural sectors could boost ICTs in Ecuador

In the past few years, the evolution of the Information and Communications Technology sector (ICT) in Ecuador has grown as a result of the increased demand for telephony and fixed wide band, specifically fixed wide band and mobile telephony 

In that context, and considering that internet users have a significant presence in social networks and in electronic commerce stores, the tourism and agricultural sectors could become drivers to promote ICTs through the development of services and applications that boost the growth of the sector and reduce the existing gaps. 

The study "Hacia la Digitalización de América Latina: las infraestructuras y los servicios TIC en la región" (Toward the Digitalization of Latin America: Infrastructure and ICT Services in the Region), carried out by CAF, points out that the growth registered  in the past few years is a result of the reduction of terminal tariffs  and the reduction of service prices, due to the institutional support that the sector receives from the national plan "Estrategia Ecuador Digital 2.0" (Ecuador 2.0 Digital Strategy). 

However, the levels of service adoption are below the regional average and although currently the optic fiber connection of the provinces is underway, the challenge for Ecuador is to update its intra-provincial infrastructures and in the technical and financial support.  

Other opportunities that would help boost the market are in the development of the norms regarding virtual mobile operators, and the reduction of tariffs for mobile terminals, hard drives, and USB memories.