Colombian engineers association Aciem is lobbying the government to modify the broadband component of Plan Vive Digital, the national ICT plan, to include a roadmap for increasing access speeds as the plan progresses.

“Vive Digital today includes narrowband, and we suggest that it should be purely broadband, both fixed and mobile,” Aciem president Julin Cardona told BNamericas. It needs to be “good” broadband at that, because little by little video is becoming the main medium for distributing information, he added.

“So we’ve proposed a roadmap which says for example that in 2015 at least 50% of Colombian homes should have 50Mbps downlink access. This is in line with Europe’s digital agenda, while in the US the plan is for all homes to have 100Mbps access by 2020,” Cardona said.

In September 2010, Aciem sent the ICT ministry a proposal for a national broadband plan.

Read more…

• 0 Comments

A sharp increase in the price of food has pushed shop inflation to its highest level for more than two and a half years, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Figures from the trade association showed that food inflation surged to 5.7% in June from 4.9% in May, considerably outstripping the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which currently stands at 4.5%.

The increase helped push overall shop inflation to 2.9% in June from 2.3% in May. Non-food retail inflation rose to 1.3% in June from 0.8% in May.

Last month’s increase in retail inflation is the largest on record since October 2008.

The BRC data illustrates the pressure cash-strapped consumers are under to stretch their declining incomes in the face of spiralling prices. T

Read more…

• 0 Comments

Preliminary figures by real estate research firm Reis show the vacancy rate at … regional malls rose to 9.3 percent … up from 9.1 percent in the first quarter.

The picture was even bleaker for U.S. strip malls where retailers gave up over half million more square feet than they rented. The vacancy rate at these local retail strips was 11 percent versus 10.9 percent in the first quarter, almost matching the 11.1 percent record set 20 years ago …

As noted in the article, some tenants are still leaving as their leases expire. Read more…

• 0 Comments

Colombian insurers booked earnings of 47.4bn pesos (US$26.9mn) in January-May, down 91.8% when compared to the year-ago period, as the buildup of technical reserves outpaced their reduction, the latest figures from financial services regulator Superfinanciera show.

In the first five months of the year, the industry saw a 0.1% year-on-year decrease in reserve reduction, while buildup increased 5.4%. Insurers’ investment income also fell, down 27.6% to 620bn pesos.

Overall for Colombian insurers, income for the period was up 6.1% to 18.23tn pesos, while expenses rose 9.1% to 18.19tn pesos.

Life insurers posted a combined 28bn-peso loss in the five months, compared to a 398bn-peso profit a year ago, while P&C insurance companies booked 75.3bn pesos in earnings, a 56.1% drop in the same comparison.

Read more…

• 0 Comments

NEW YORK — Colossal sales enticed consumers to shop like it was 1999 last month. But higher prices ahead could cause the party to end.

Warm weather and discounts of up to 80 percent on summer merchandise helped retailers deliver the best revenue gains since June 1999 in what is typically the second-biggest shopping month of the year.

But pressure on stores to pass along higher costs for everything from clothing and handbags to food has raised concerns that the momentum may not continue heading into the busy back-to-school shopping season.

“Promotions were the clear driver this month, and consumers took advantage of some outstanding deals,” said Ken Perkins, president of research firm RetailMetrics LLC. “But that leaves a big question mark for July and the back-to-school season. Will shoppers be willing to spend full price?

Read more…

• 0 Comments