English > Internet in El Salvador

Introduction

            Numerous technical innovations have transformed the way society works: fire, electricity, the steam engine, the telephone, the Internet, to name a few. The Internet has revolutionized modern society by shortening distances around the globe. It has placed   international information exchange on the hands of the global community, who has taken advantage of its speed to access  millions of documents from virtually any topic imaginable, the possibility to publish one's opinion , and to keep in touch quickly and cheaply with people from all over the world.
            Today's applications of the Internet could not have been imagined when it was first created, it has gone through deep changes, while retaining the basic technologies. Far from only being the military communication system or the scholars information sharing platform that was originally intended to be it has become an essential tool for businesses and researchers, a communication channel for friends and relatives, an entertainment source for kids and teens, to name a few.
            Even though today's users are not  mainly scholars, the start of Internet connectivity in El Salvador was thanks to those groups. The first connected organizations were Universities, and the objective of the first project was to connect local Universities to Universities in the rest of Latin America.
            Competition by Internet providers generated after the privatization of the inefficient state owned telecommunications company accelerated the widespread use of the technology in El Salvador. Direct consequences of the free market such as the lowering of prices, increasing in service coverage and availability, better and faster services and the general decrease in the cost of the equipment has helped internet become ubiquitous in our country.

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Author: Rodrigo Noyola

Title: Development of the Internet in El Salvador
Published: Monday, May 14th 2007