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Nicaragua

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.niNatural disasters, political turmoil, andeconomic woes have all had negativeimpacts not only on overall economicdevelopment in Nicaragua, but also onthe nation’s Networked Readiness. TheNicaraguan economy is largely dependenton global commodity markets. The nationfaces major development challenges,including widespread poverty, poor infra-structure, and decaying health and educa-tional systems. Nicaragua rankssixty-ninth overall in Readiness for theNetworked World.As a Highly Indebted Poor Country, nearly30 percent of Nicaraguans live in poverty,1which, when added to high access costsand predominantly urban telephonycoverage, makes Internet access impos-sible for most of the population.There have been a number of problems inreforming the telecommunications regula-tory environment in Nicaragua (Ranking inICT Policy micro-index: 73). Consecutiveattempts to privatize EmpresaNicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones(ENITEL), the state-owned telecommunica-tions company, in 1996, 1999, and 2000,were unsuccessful. Partial privatizationoccurred in August 2001 when a consor-tium led by Swedish operator Telia boughta 40 percent stake. This was accompaniedby legal controversy that ignited politicalopposition.In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused an esti-mated US$12 million in damage to thecountry’s already poor telecommunicationsinfrastructure2(Ranking in InformationInfrastructure micro-index: 69). Networkaccess is very limited nationally.Teledensity in Nicaragua is the lowest inCentral America, another factor that hashampered growth of the Internet. Thereare eighteen operational ISPs with approx-imately 25,000 subscribers. The mobile telephony market is expectedto grow with the issuing of a PersonalCommunication System (PCS) license toGrupo Azteca, a Mexican telecommunica-tions company with rights to nationalcoverage. The two existing mobileproviders are limited to providing serviceson one of the coasts—Bell South (with a55 percent digital network) serves thePacific coast, and Teleglobo (analogcellular) serves the Caribbean coast. There are very few computers, let aloneInternet connections, in Nicaraguanprimary and secondary schools (Ranking inInternet Access in Schools: 69). At thetertiary level, Nicaragua is participating inthe RedHUCyT project, which aims tocreate a hemisphere-wide interuniversityscientific and technological network. Theproject is helping to develop the firstNicaraguan Academic Network. According to Nicaragua’s NetworkInformation Center, there were only 1,756first- and second-level Nicaraguan Internetdomains as of September 2001 (sixty-ninefrom government organizations, some ofwhich do not work), an indication of themodest development of locally relevantWeb content and services.3The mostcommon Nicaraguan websites cover newsor advertise goods and services. A small number of firms have adopted B2Ce-commerce, but it is still in its infancydue to low Internet penetration, unrelia-bility of the postal system, and lack ofaccess to credit cards. Nonetheless, in B2Be-commerce, one Nicaraguan bank hasbegun to offer online payment capabilityto employees and suppliers. Internet access became relevant enoughto be an issue during the presidentialcampaign leading up to the November2001 election. Nonetheless, illiteracy,poverty, poor infrastructure, and, ingeneral, building enabling factors forNetworked Readiness (Ranking in Enabling Factors component index: 73)will continue to be major long-term challenges. “ It would be ideal if the authorities work hand-in-hand with theprivate sector to imple-ment an IT developmentplan…”—CIO of Nicaraguan IT company“ Promises of greater access to IT [are beingused] in generatingsupport for politicalcampaigns—[this] demonstrates that IT is in the mind of the politicians.”—Nicaraguan IT executiveCountry Profiles252Tariq Mohammed, Harvard UniversityCarlos Osorio, Harvard UniversityCountry Profiles253NicaraguaPopulation 5,074,000 Rural population (% of total population) 1999 44.22 %GDP per capita (PPP) US$2,396 Global Competitiveness Index Ranking, 2001–2002 73UNDP Human Development Index Ranking, 2001 (adjusted to GITR sample) 67Main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants 3.04 Telephone faults per 100 main telephone lines 79.30 Internet hosts per 10,000 inhabitants 2.76 Personal computers per 100 inhabitants 0.79 Piracy rate 78.00 %Percent of PCs connected to Internet 2.62 %Internet users per host 19.10 Internet users per 100 inhabitants 0.41 Cell phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants 0.89 Average monthly cost for 20 hours of Internet access NA Networked Economye-Commercee-GovernmentGeneral InfrastructureRANKNetwork AccessInformation InfrastructureHardware, Software, and SupportNetwork PolicyBusiness and Economic EnvironmentICT PolicyNetworked SocietyNetworked LearningICT OpportunitiesSocial Capital6965736969697271736867667069686475Network Use component indexEnabling Factors component indexNetworked Readiness IndexKey


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