Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) has formed the Regional Broadband Center (ORBA, for its Spanish acronym), which will provide information for the design and monitoring of public policies for universal broadband. The agency said the percentage of mobile broadband subscribers on the total population of the region increased from 0.2% in 2005 to 4.7% in 2009. As a result, although it is one of the fastest growing segments, this progress is mixed and created a wide gap between Latin American and developing countries (where the service rose from 5% to 49% over the same period).

"ECLA promotes an agenda based on equality of rights and closing the productivity gaps, and the Observatory allows us to clearly see the inequities in access to broadband in terms of rates and speeds, as well as challenges in infrastructure and connectivity," said Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the ECLA.