Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Next year, cellular phone coverage in Peru could jump to 80 percent, that is, 80 of every 100 Peruvians would have a cell phone, said Wednesday the head of Alterna Peru Consultancy firm, Liliana Ruíz.

“The cellphone service coverage now ranges between 60 and 65 percent. That is, there are some 19 million active cell phones in Peru. Considering industry growth in the last years, it is very likely that next year, 80 of every 100 Peruvians will have a cell phone”, she said.

Ruiz stated that during the Christmas campaign, cell phone sales would increase significantly.

"Besides, we are taking about a high rate of growth for 2009. While there are some doubts on what would happen in international markets, the local market is based on strong pillars to help it face any external shock”.

Some analysts say our country won’t be affected by this crisis, enabling the telecom sector to keep its dynamism, she added.

Finally, the specialist stated higher cell phone use would also be based on the increase of the number of independent workers, who need a cell phone to do their jobs as fast as possible.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Cellular phones are quickly becoming Peru's main means of communication, revealed a study done by the country's National Statistics Institute (INEI).

When compared to last year, the use of cellular phones in the Andean country has increased 13.5 percent, said the survey known as the Information Technology and Communication in Homes study.

While the nationwide use of cellular phones was registered at 40.6 percent between April and July 2007, it increased to 54.1 percent in the same period in 2008.

Furthermore, the higher use of mobiles in Peru has encouraged companies to invest in this sector, said El Comercio newspaper, explaining that Visa had recently launched a payment system using cellular phones in the Andean country.

Other INEI reports showed that 29.6 percent of Peruvian homes had a fixed telephone while 17.3 percent had cable.

In the case of Internet access, 7.8 percent of the country had a connection.

37.8 percent of Peru does not have any of these services, said the statistics institute.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

If investigations reveal that telecommunications company Telefonica del Peru was responsible for a three-hour interruption in the country's internet service last week, it will be fined, announced OSIPTEL, Peru's telecommunications regulating agency.

"If it is determined that the company was responsible in any way, a fine will be placed and a compensation will be demanded for users," said Guillermo Thornberry, the head of OSIPTEL.

It was reported that fines on such occasions range as high as 1.2 million soles.

In a press release issued by Telefonica del Peru, representatives affirmed that TIWS, Telefonica's international service provider was to blame because of a problem in the configuration of their software.

The cut in customer's internet connection was experienced by users in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.

Telefonica assured that the error on TIWS end had caused a saturation of traffic in Peru and Chile, causing the system to fail.

"The TIWS network is supervised and managed from an international center in Madrid, Spain, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This center located and found the problem in the least amount of time possible," said Telefonica del Peru.

Furthermore, Telefonica explained that it had requested a full report to know what TIWS will do to prevent this type of problem from occurring in the future.

The minister of Transport and Communications, Verónica Zavala (right), reported today that important Brazilian telephone companies were interested in participating in the fourth 1,900 Megahertz (MHz) mobile line auction, which will award a fourth mobile phone operator license.

“We have had very positive meetings with Brazilian entrepreneurs, who are very interested in participating in this process”, she stated.

At the moment, mobile phone service is provided by three operators: Mexican telecommunication group América Móvil (Claro), Telefónica Móviles (Movistar), and Nextel from Perú.

This concession will be awarded in November; however, Telefonica Móviles and América Móvil will not participate in this process because the government is looking for a new operator in order to promote competition to benefit mobile phone users.

Meetings were held during the last Peru-Brazil Investment, Trade, Tourism, and Culture Entrepreneurship Meeting–ExpoPerú 2008, held in the city of Sao Paolo (Brazil) from September 18 - 19.

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

After telecommunications giant Telefonica announced last week that it was going to raise the price of its Cable Magico cable service in the country, it was reported that a congressional commission arranged to meet with Guillermo Thornberry, head of OSIPTEL, Peru's telecommunications regulating agency.

After meeting with the congressional commission for the protection of consumer rights, it was established that Telefonica's increase in the cost of cable in the Andean country was within permitted limits.

Furthermore, it was clarified that OSIPTEL did not regulate cable companies in Peru but only supervised their actions.

Telefonica representatives explained they were only required to inform OSIPTEL of the change in prices five days prior to their modification. Telefonica affirmed it had told OSIPTEL fifteen days in advance.

Once Thornberry assured OSIPTEL would not intervene in the matter, congressman Yonhy Lescano criticized the agency, stating the problem was not a change in prices but a change in contracts signed between the company and customers.

OSIPTEL is not obligated to approve these changes, said Thornberry, explaining the contract was not being modified but that only the price was being adjusted.

Beginning October 1, the basic Cable Magico cable package will increase 9 soles to 69 soles per month and will offer an additional 33 channels for a total of 70 channels.

The premium package will increase 12 soles to 132 soles and will offer an additional 20 channels for a total of 107 channels.

Local media has affirmed there are not options for customers that may not want more channels.

Research and Markets, an international marketing research firm based in Dublin (Ireland), has announced the addition of the "Peru - Fixed-Line Market & Infrastructure - Overview & Statistics" report to their offering.

Despite liberalisation, Peru’s local fixed-line market is still dominated by the incumbent Telefónica del Perú.

Movistar, also owned by Telefónica, is in second place, offering basic telephony over fixed-wireless technology.

As a result, Telefónica controls around 97 percent of Peru’s local fixed-line market.

Long-distance telephony, on the other hand, is very competitive, stimulated by a multicarrier system.

Although teledensity is gradually increasing, many rural municipalities still have no telephone facilities.

The government is aiming to increase fixed-line teledensity from 9.5 to 15 percent by 2011.

This report provides an overview of Peru’s telecom infrastructure, together with profiles of major fixed-line operators, accompanied by relevant statistics and analyses.

News source: ANDINA

Peruvian telecoms operator Telefónica del Perú (TdP) has purchased cable TV operator Star Global Com for nearly US$12 million, local newspaper Correo reported.

The cable TV operator provides services in the southern departments of Arequipa and Tacna.

TdP will continue investing in the south of the country, said the company's VP for strategy and corporate regulation, Luis Delamer

The acquisition will not result in any changes for the operator's employees and subscribers, he added.

Local companies Perú Global Com and United Perú owned 71.29 percent and 28.71 percent of the cable TV operator respectively.

TdP is the local unit of Spain's Telefónica.

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peru's Ministry of Transportation and Communications has announced it will begin using Globalstar, a satellite phone system, to provide the service for 100 satellite phones.

It was reported that after signing a $900,000 one-year contract, the government is to be provided the phones along with the service and maintenance to be used in the case of another natural disaster or national emergency.

The vice minister of communications Cayetana Aljovín explained that a contract with Globalstar had been signed and phones would begin to be distributed this week.

He added that government officials would have to be trained on how to use the phones.

Among those that are to receive one of the new satellite phones is the country's president, governors, ministers and vice ministers, the head of congress along with members of Peru's civil defense, national police and Armed Forces.

It was reported that authorities are only allowed to use the phones during emergencies and will be charged if used on any other occasion.

Aside from the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation the government is to use, authorities have requested that all the telephone companies in Peru create a special network for the one hundred people that are to have the satellite phones.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

After Lima and Callao, the regions of Tacna and Arequipa have the highest mobile phone penetration rate in Peru.

Reports for the first trimester of 2008 show that Tacna and Arequipa, two regions located in southern Peru, have a penetration rate of 90 and 81 mobile phone lines for every 100 people.

Perucámaras, the country's National Chamber of Commerce reported that there was an important increase in the Andean country's cellular phone penetration rate, stating it had risen to over 60 lines for every 100 people.

An increase of five lines per one hundred people was registered nationwide between December 2007 and March 2008.

According to Perucámaras, this increase over the past several months shows that Peruvians prefer mobile phones to landlines.

"The economy's dynamism is not only seen in the capital but throughout the country," said the Chamber of Commerce.

Increases in the number of mobile phone users have also been registered in Moquegua (79:100), Madre de Dios (53:100), Lambayeque (61:100) and Ica (70:100).

A lower penetration rate was seen in regions such as Huancavelica (7:100), Loreto (18:100) and Amazonas (15:100).

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.