Living in Peru : your everyday companion

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Peru's Deputy Minister of Communications, Jorge Cuba Hidalgo, said that the government’s goals on the telecommunications field “are coming true sooner than expected”.

He said that their goal was to have 15 land lines for every 100 Peruvians, and that up to now there are 10 lines for every 100 people.

“The number of mobile phone users has rapidly increased: we expect to have 22 million for April this year. Our teledensity goal was 80 cell phones for every 100 citizens, and there are currently 72.9, so we are very close," he added.

Cuba Hidalgo noted that the global financial crisis has not affected investment in the country’s telecommunications industry; on the contrary, by December 31, 2008, it attracted over US$3.4 billion of foreign investments, that is, 22% of total investments in the country.

“This largely surpasses the investments in energy and mining industry,” he said.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Telefonica (which provides mobile phone, fixed phone, wireless and Internet services) will invest US $400 million dollars this year to expand its operations in the Peruvian market, said Javier Manzanares, head of Grupo Telefónica del Peru.

Manzanares said that the good performance of the Peruvian economy has led the company to not alter its investment plan.

"We still see a need to increase service coverage, especially in the interior of the country," Manzanares said.

He explained that wireless technology is growing more in Peru on average than in other countries, Telefónica already has 400,000 customers despite being a new product.

He also said that in the next few months we will see 3G cell phones prices dropping, which will lead to an increase of their sales in Peru.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Telefonica Moviles, Nextel del Peru and America Movil, the three mobile phone service providers in Peru, have signed an agreement in order to allow their clients to keep their mobile phone numbers when they move to one service provider into another one.

These three companies have signed a contract with the Peruvian-Spanish partnership CEI (Informatica El Corte Ingles, Everis Spain and Consulting Outsourcing Management), so that they can start soon to build the database necessary for mobile number portability.

The partnership will manage this database (which will include the list of the clients who apply for this service), will verify the state of the requests and will create a daily log with all these numbers.

This free system will start to operate in January 2010, and will allow users to switch  between mobile phone service providers while keeping their own numbers.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivingInPeru
Isabel Guerra

More than 20,000 people from the Fortaleza Valley (rural areas of Bolognesi and Recuay, region of Ancash) will finally access to land lines and cell phones as well, according to a covenant signed by their mayors, Fondo Minero Antamina (FMA) and Telefónica Móviles

This covenant will benefit the people giving them permanent telephonic service, which will allow them to stay connected with the rest of the country.

Initial investment by FMA has been estimated in US$ 3.12 millions, and Telefónica's contribution in maintenance and renovation of equipments reaches US$ 3 millions.

The mayors who signed this covenant also promised to work hard in order to guarantee the sustainability of this program and give facilities to Telefonica's work.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivingInPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

International press gives special coverage today to Alberto Fujimori's sentence to 25 years of prison, after a Special Court found him guilty of human rights violations.

In Chile, which government authorized Fujimori's extradition, the online version of El Mercurio features a big photograph of Fujimori, and a couple lines stating "Fujimori is found guilty".

British BBC's headlines said "Fujimori gets lengthy jail term", and called as "historic" the 25 year prison verdict on human rights violations.

The Miami Herald stated “Peru's Fujimori convicted in murder trial” and highlighted the performance of the three-judge court chaired by César San Martín, for respecting the judiciary processes.

The New York Times says “Peru’s ex president convicted of rights abuses”, referring to the 15-month process during which Fujimori tried to defend himself.

The Washington Post published a long article, "Former Peruvian President Convicted in Murder, Kidnapping Trial".

Al-Jazeera opens its Americas section with a special report also titled , "Fujimori jailed on murder charges".

And Time magazine's online edition features a special article analyzing the facts and the probable consequences of Fujimori's sentence.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Magazine editors and publishers from countries such as Peru, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia inaugurated on Monday a weeklong meeting in Bogotá to discuss the future of the printed editions of their publications.

Affirming that internet editions of magazines are becoming increasingly popular, Latin American publishers confirmed that they would have to begin strengthening the online versions of their magazines.

"The big question magazines are asking is, what's going to happen with the internet," said Guillermo Osorno, head of Mexico-based Gatopardo magazine.

During the meeting he noted that the printed edition of veteran U.S. magazine Christian Science Monitor had recently disappeared.

"Newspapers can adjust to changes with their online versions but with magazines you never know because articles published are extensive, which is different than the internet, which provides brief subjects, said Osorno, assuring "Something has to be done."

Daniel Titinger, former head of Peru's Etiqueta Negra magazine differed in opinion, stating that the best way to publish a magazine was on paper.

"This allows an impeccable design," said Titinger.

Wireless telecommunications company NII Holdings Inc, formerly Nextel International Inc, said it will launch Research In Motion's BlackBerry Curve (TM) 8350i smartphone in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru during the first quarter of 2009.

The BlackBerry® Curve(TM) 8350i will be the first smartphone in Latin America to offer the industry-leading Push-to-Talk (PTT) service, International Direct Connect (IDC) and Wi-Fi® capability, making it a powerful and flexible wireless solution for the mobile business user.

"Our high-value customers in Latin America demand high-performance wireless solutions that enable them to stay ahead of the game with enhanced productivity and flexibility," said Greg Santoro, chief marketing and strategy officer, NII Holdings.

"This powerful and feature-rich smartphone is a push for performance solution that combines the power of Push-To-Talk with the BlackBerry platform's popular features. It will be the must-have handset for subscribers who need flawless instant communication tools to extend the reach of their business," he added.

NII Holdings Inc., which operates in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile under the Nextel brand, has been faring well against its rivals, Mexico's America Movil -- controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim -- and Spain's Telefonica SA.

Research In Motion (RIM) is a leader in wireless communications and its products include the BlackBerry™ wireless email solution, wireless handhelds and wireless modems.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Peru - Key Statistics Telecom Market and Regulatory Overviews" report to their offering.

Peru's teledensity is among the lowest in Latin America, underdeveloped even taking into account the country's low GDP per capita.

Telecoms infrastructure reflects the country's poverty map, with most of the fixed lines concentrated in Lima.

The government aims to bridge the digital divide through rural projects sponsored by FITEL, a fund that finances rural operators under the rule of less-bid subsidy.

Competition is strongly encouraged. A single concession regime was adopted in July 2007, and an infrastructure sharing law was issued in July 2008.

Mobile number portability will be compulsory for all operators starting from 2010. This report provides key statistical data and an overview of Peru's telecom market and regulatory environment.

Official Press Release