In spite of this, Panama actually has a very well-integrated and fairly well-supported data communications infrastructure. The country serves as a connection point for several regional submarine cables, connecting it directly to many countries in Central and South America as well as to the United States, and from thence to the rest of the world (CIA 2010a). As of 2008, the number of combined land and mobile phone lines in Panama surpassed the population by more than a third, suggesting that a greater abundance of Panamanians are truly able to take advantage of the burgeoning communications network in the country and the area (CIA 2010a).
Again, in terms of number and to some degree in terms of proportion the United States clearly has a communications advantage over its much smaller and much less economically advantaged regional neighbor. Panama supports a large number of radio stations in comparison to its population, however (which is approximately...
Panama has several thriving economic sectors, a fact that has largely been a driving force in the growth of the communications systems and availabilities in the country, but the imbalance of the economic impact of these sectors on the much smaller population -- as well as the population size itself -- are assisting in the outpacing of the country (Stoute 2010).
References
CIA. (2010) "Panama." World factbook. Accessed 9 May 2010. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pm.html
CIA. (2010) "United States." World factbook. Accessed 9 May 2010. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
Stoute, C. (2010). "Information technology in Panama." Accessed 9 May 2010. http://www1.american.edu/initeb/cs6223a/panama.htm
