Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peruvians trust more in the internet than any other means of communication, revealed a study done by the University of Lima Public Opinion Group.

Surveys showed that over 55 percent of those that participated stated they trusted most in the information found on the Internet.

When asked about radio and television, 54.8 percent of participants said a reliable source of information was the radio while 45.9 percent of people stated that they trusted in data seen on television.

The lowest ranking mean of communication was newspapers.

Only 39.8 percent of the participants polled in Lima and Callao said they believed in the information in Peru's newspapers.

The University of Lima annual study was carried out in the region of Lima and in the province of Callao.

Limeans and "Chalacos", or people from Callao, from 31 of the country's districts were surveyed.

The study also showed that over 15 percent of people in Lima surf the Internet to read the news and gather political information.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

The war between Spain's Telefonica and Mexico's Telmex to attract the highest number of mobile telephone, land line, internet and cable customers has spilled onto the streets, reported Expreso daily.

People using public telephones throughout the country will also benefit from the struggle between the two companies.

Calling a cellular phone in Peru was a luxury several years ago; with more competition, that is changing.

When Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim's company entered Peru in 2004 it began charging payphone users S/. 0.50 for forty seconds of conversation while Telefonica del Peru charged the same amount for 43 seconds of use.

The Spanish company recently upped the stakes, however.

Near the end of May, the company launched a new campaign in which it will charge S/. 0.30 for the first thirty seconds of conversation and twenty more cents for every additional twenty seconds.

Until now, payphone users had to deposit at least S/. 0.50 to call a cellular phone. Now, however, the same calls will cost S/. 0.30

According to the president of Telefonica del Peru, it was not possible to decrease the cost of a phone call to a mobile phone any further.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peru's President Alan Garcia announced Friday morning that a project had been launched to provide the country's poorest regions with wireless telephones.

He explained that 700,000 of these phones would be placed throughout Peru and would cost users 30 soles per month.

The Head of State made these statements at a ceremony in which he witnessed the installation of the first of the 500,000 phone lines that will be connected in Lima's poorest districts.

Even though it was not announced how many of the capital's districts would have these phones, Garcia stated that to begin with they would be placed in Ancón, Villa El Salvador, Villa María del Triunfo, San Juan de Lurigancho, Ate-Vitarte, Santa Rosa and Carabayllo.

He added that the cost of the wireless landline would be one sol per day.

President Garcia inaugurated the new line early Friday morning at an elementary school in Carabayllo, one of Lima's northernmost districts.

He called a well-known radio program broadcast by RPP radio station.

In his speech to the people that had gathered at the school, Garcia recalled that between 1980 and 1985 "there were only 1.2 million phones in Peru".

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peru's mobile phone penetration rate (the number of active mobile phone numbers within a specific population) will increase 27.3 percent, estimated Nokia Peru on Thursday.

According to company representatives, the penetration rate could reach 70 percent by the end of the year.

Teobaldo Palacios, the general manager of Nokia Peru said Lima has the highest quantity of cellular phone owners in the country. He explained that Lima's mobile phone penetration rate was at 90 percent.

"If conditions remain stable, it is possible that by 2010 or 2011 Peru's penetration rate could reach Chile's, which is at 90 percent.

If this were to happen, Lima's penetration rate would be over 100 percent, meaning that there would be two or more cellular phone numbers for each person in the province.

When asked about the popularity of pre and postpaid plans, Nokia's general manager assured that prepaid calling plans for cellular phones were sold much more in the Andean country.

He did not, however, rule out that postpaid phones could be more popular in the future.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Cellular phone users will be unable to make phone calls on Saturday April 5 from 12 a.m. - 7a.m., at which time new software will be set up by service providers, said Cayetana Aljovín.

Aljovín, the vice-minister of communications in Peru explained that software was being changed so that the new phone number system would work as planned.

Beginning April 5, cellular phone numbers in Peru will have an extra number, the number "9".

In order to make a phone call, beginning Saturday, users must first dial the number "9" and then the following eight numbers (for people with Lima cell phones).

It was reported that this new number system would create a standard across the country and allow users to keep their number when changing from one service provider to another. This feature will be available when companies adapt to number portability.

All of Peru's cellular phone numbers will now have 9 digits, reported Andina news agency.

According to the Andean country's ministry of communication, these measures are being taken because of the large quantity of cellular phone numbers in use, estimated at 16 million.

It was reported that there were not any more numeric combinations and it was necessary to add another digit.

The last time a digit was added to cellular phone numbers in Peru was in 2003, when there were 2.3 million users.

(LIP-ir)  --  Peru's telecommunications regulating agency, OSIPTEL, has placed a 2.8 million-sol fine on telecommunications companies in the Andean country for deficient and defective phone systems before and after the August 15 earthquake.

The process to fine the companies began September 18, 2007 but Telefónica, Nextel and América Móvil appealed the fines on January 28.

The three companies were fined for violating several points on concession deals such as not being able to provide a continuous service as well as not implementing adequate contingency procedures.

The regulatory agency fined Telefónica Móviles, owner of Movistar and the largest mobile phone operator in Spain, over 1.2 million soles.

América Móvil, a Fortune 500 company and the largest mobile network operator in Latin America, was fined over 1.2 million soles as well.

With a 560 thousand-sol fine, Nextel Del Peru, a subsidiary of Nextel International Inc., was fined the lowest amount of the three.

"Continuity is one of the most important elements of a public service ... and should satisfy citizen's needs, individually and collectively", said OSIPTEL.

(LIP-ir) -- Peru's Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced that beginning April 5, cellular phone numbers in Peru would have 9 digits instead of 8.

It was announced that in the capital city of Lima, the number "9" would be added to cellular phone numbers.

In Peru's provinces, not only will cell phone numbers be changed but the area codes in the Andean country's regions will also vary.

The Ministry of Communications (MTC) explained that in the regions of La Libertad, Arequipa, Piura and Lambayeque the numbers 94, 95, 96 and 97 would have to be dialed first.

In other regions of the country, the number nine would be placed in front of a double-digit area code.

For instance, if the area code in Amazonas is 41, beginning April 5, the numbers 941 will have to be dialed before one dials the cellular phone number.

One of the benefits of having nine digit cellular phone numbers is that it will be possible to have more cellular phone numbers in the country, said Peru's MTC.

Ministry representatives also explained that this decision made number portability possible. Users would be able to keep cell phone numbers when switching from one phone company to another.

To make the transition easier for consumers, the MTC has announced that there will be radio as well as television commercials and information distributed so that customers are clear on the new cellular phone numbers they will have.

(LIP-ir) -- People that wish to make phone calls from a Telefonica del Peru (TdP) payphone will now be able to do so for less money and speak longer.

Beginning on February 23, calls made to cellular phones from Telefonica public phones will last 43 seconds and cost fifty cents (sol), while long distance calls (national) will last 42 seconds, announced OSIPTEL, Peru's telecommunications regulator.

With one sol, customers can currently call a cell phone and speak to another person for 55 seconds. TdP's new adjustment in rates has decreased the cost of a call 36 percent.

On the other hand, Telefonica del Peru has reduced its long distance rates 61 percent. For two soles, customers can make a long distance (national) call for 65 seconds. After February 23, fifty cents (sol) will give consumers 42 seconds of talking time.

The decision to change the cost of calls was made because of the amount of low-income households that rely on payphones as their only means of communication in Peru, explained Guillermo Thornberry, the president of OSIPTEL,

"Fifty-eight percent of households in Peru's urban areas rely on payphones as their only access to telecommunication services. They will benefit from the cheaper calls", said Thornberry.

It was reported that in September 2007, of the 170 thousand payphones located in Peru's urban areas, 154,137 belonged to TdP.

(LIP-ir) -- After beating Telmex Peru and the STM-Valtron consortium for a 450MHz fixed wireless license, Mobile telecommunications provider, Movistar Peru has won its second concession in the past few weeks.

Peru's private investment promotion agency, ProInversión, announced that Movistar, Telefonica's mobile telephony operator, won the license to provide fixed wireless service on the 450MHz spectrum band and deploy 501,000 new wireless phone lines in Lima and Callao.

Scoring 80 points in the auction, Telmex was unable to make a better offer than Movistar, which beat its competitor with 119 points. Even though Telmex offered lower monthly rates for its monthly service (29.50 soles), installation fees were over 130 soles.

Telefonica offered 30-sol monthly rates and installation fees were also 30 soles. In addition, Telefonica offered a network that could support 501,000 lines and be set up in three months while Telmex offered a network that could support 500,001 lines and be established in six months.

STM-Valtron consortium had been prequalified but was not present at the bidding process.

"Telefonica is going to make an investment close to $50 million, which will benefit 2.5 million people in Lima and Callao", said Peru's Minster of Communication, Verónica Zavala.

On December 28, Telefonica won a concession to provide fixed wireless services on the 900MHz spectrum band. The other prequalified operator in the bidding process was Claro, the local unit of Mexico's América Móvil.

(LIP-ir) -- From January to October of this year there have been 5,193 cases of people stealing telephone cables, affecting over seven hundred thousand users across Peru, said the telephone service provider, Telefonica del Peru (TdP).

In a press release issued by Telefonica del Peru, the company states that the district of Yarinacoha, located in Pucallpa - Peru's jungle, is the district with the most cases of telephone wire theft.

It was reported that telephone wire theft had increased from 8 to 91 robberies in the past year, a 91 percent increase in the area.

Districts in Lima, Peru have also shown a steady increase in telephone wire theft, Barrios Altos being one of the areas most affected. It was reported that five services were affected in February but that by November 130 had been affected.

Large holes, several meters long, can be seen along the streets and sidewalks, where telephone cables have been dug up and stolen, affecting several areas in the district, stated a spokesperson for Telefonica.

It was reported that a 92 percent increase in telephone wire theft was seen in Huaral while Sayán had a 73 percent increase. There have been increases in telephone wire theft across the country, in areas such as Junin, Iquitos, San Martín de Porres and Rimac.

There have been 21 thousand reports of telephone wire theft over the past three years, accounting for the sale of over 1,600 tons of copper on the black market, informed Telefonica del Peru.