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Feb. 17, 2007 Cyber cafés are a booming business in Argentina, Uruguay and Perú, though I don't see how they can make enough money to be viable, with the rates that they charge for computer time. In Buenos Aires, and almost throughout Argentina, the going rate is 1 to 2 pesos, that is, 33 to 67 cents per hour, and this fluctuation has little to do with the quality of the computers. Some of the places that have really good computers charge only 1 or 1.5 pesos, while others, with older computers, may charge 2. In San Telmo, a neighborhood where I lived a total of four months in two spells, there were at least 11 cyber cafés within about 4 or 5 blocks. In Balvanera, another district where I lived, there must have been a dozen within the same distance. Now, I am in Villa Soldati, which is a little more downscale, but there are still about six within four blocks. In every other city that I have visited in Argentina, I have always found several cyber cafés close at hand. In the Indian villages I toured, I didn't look, as I was there only briefly, but I wouldn't be surprised if each of them also had one or two. In Río Gallegos, a town down at the far south end of the continent, I found a cyber café with 65 computers on two floors, men's and women's rest rooms and a complete snack stand, with candy, cookies, beverages, and even sandwiches. It was so crowded that when I stepped out and stepped back in, I had to wait for a machine. It was the same in Lima, Perú, where computer time costs between 1 and 2 soles, 31 to 62 cents, an hour. Though I was in Lima only a few days, in a district called Pueblo Libre, I noticed that the main avenue around there had at least 6 or 7 cyber cafés within 6 or 8 blocks. Had I been there longer, I would probably have found more. The situation is equally good in Uruguay. I spent two weekends in Montevideo, and found all the cyber cafés I could handle. Unfortunately, the situation is not so good in Paraguay. Still, in downtown Asunción, I know of half a dozen, but some of these were nearly a mile away. Not only that, but the first time I was there, computer time was 51 cents an hour before noon, and 85 after noon. Though these are still bargain rates, you appreciate the difference between 33 and 85, when you use the machine 6 hours a day. On my second trip, most of them had introduced 'vouchers' (bonos), with 20 hours for $8.50, or 44 cents an hour. Internet is very slow in Paraguay; it must have something to do with bandwidth, about which I know almost nothing. In Brazil, cyber cafés are many fewer. I was in Rio de Janeiro two weeks and found only three, with prices of 3.33 to 6 reais ('reais' is plural of 'real'), that is, $1.57 to $2.82 an hour, very unfortunate for me. However, when I got to Belém, where I spent five months, I had one near me that charged only 2 reais, 94 cents an hour. You won't beat that in Brazil. I notice that in Costa Rica and Panamá, the rate was $1 or more per hour. I just don't see how Argentine cyber cafés manage. The cyber café I now use charges 2 pesos, 67 cents, but has only 5 computers, along with 5 phone booths. The going rate for a local call is 20 centavos, 7 cents. At the maximum, the computers gross $3.33 an hour and the phones probably even less. How can you run a business with total revenues of $50 a day or less, as you pay rent, buy and service computers, and pay an attendant to run the place. I saw one place with only 4 computers and 4 phones, and it was charging only a peso an hour, 33 cents. The whole store must have been making $1.50 or $2 an hour, but it had an attendant and a restroom, and in downtown Buenos Aires yet. It was almost amusing at the first cyber café I used back from December, 2004 to May, 2005. This was a Chinese-run place with 25 computers, at 33 cents an hour, with a bonus of 5 hours for the price of 4, that is, $1.33 for 5 hours. And the little Chinese girl liked me I guess. She often charged me only $1 for 5 hours, smiling very congenially. So the entire large store was making only $8.33 an hour at tops. Usually though, it was only about half full, say $4 an hour. But there were always a couple of Chinese working at the desk. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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