91% connected households
Household connectivity, in particular fixed broadband connection, is one of the most relevant enabling aspects. It provides its members the possibility of making the most of the advantages offered by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) from the place they spend the most time. The importance of Internet access in the household became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people were forced to do from their home many activities they used to do outside.
In this regard, it is important to know how many households in Uruguay have Internet access and its type. According to the results of the Survey of Use of Information Technology and Communications (EUTIC for its acronym in Spanish), 91% of households throughout the country have some kind of Internet connection and 72% have fixed broadband connection. Both digits have continuously grown since the first edition of the EUTIC in 2010 when less than half of households had Internet access and a proportion even smaller through fixed broadband. This is because this type of connection tends to be more expensive given its technical characteristics, which include greater speed.
On the other hand, despite the fact that there are Internet access gaps based on area and income, it is important to highlight that these gaps have progressively reduced since 2010.
In 2010 the Internet connection gap between households in Montevideo and inland areas was 27%, which implies that for every four households in Montevideo that were connected, there were three connected households in inland areas. In the last decades, this gap was reduced to 7%, which means that for every 10 households connected in Montevideo, there are 9 households connected in inland areas.