Rio de Janeiro – The COVID-19 pandemic, declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020, intensified the use of digital technologies in Brazil, rising from 71% of households with internet connection in 2019 to 83% last year, which corresponds to about 61.8 million households with some connection to the web.

Data are from the Survey on the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Brazilian Households (ICT Households) 2020, released this Thursday (25) by the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), part of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br).

The coordinator of CGI.br, Márcio Migon, explains access to the web and mobile devices started to play a vital role amid the pandemic, enabling business activities with remote work, online sales, public services, distance learning, and medical appointments over the internet. However, he highlights differences in access to technology aggravated social inequalities.“The contrasts and challenges of access were even more prominent, aggravating social fractures and inequalities,” he pointed out.

São Paulo

According to the CEO of NIC.br, Demi Getschko, the nucleus detected a substantial increase in network traffic, taking São Paulo to the first place in the world.“We went through the pandemic with a massive increase in traffic, especially at traffic exchange points [IXPs]. The Brazilian internet supported this additional demand; we had good information the São Paulo IXP reached first place in the world, surpassing Frankfurt's, which was in the lead,” he reported.

Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro

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