Synopsis
Peru’s mobile penetration is higher than average for Latin America, a remarkable achievement considering that the country’s GDP per capita is far lower than the regional average. There are, however, huge geographical disparities within Peru. While mobile penetration is over 120% along the southern coast, it is less than 50% in a few Andean and Amazonian regions.
Three companies compete in the mobile market: Telefónica, trading as Movistar, is the leader; América Móvil, trading as Claro, is in second place; and third is Nextel del Perú. In early 2011, Vietnamese military-owned Viettel won spectrum to become the country’s fourth mobile operator. Expectations in Peru are high, with mobile users keen to try Viettel’s services, which are expected to become available by end-2011. Virgin Mobile has also announced plans to enter Latin America’s mobile markets – including Peru – as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).
To decrease the use of mobile phones for criminal activities, Peruvian prepaid mobile users have had to register their SIM cards. Almost one million unregistered users had their phones cut off in March 2011.
Accompanied by key market statistics and analyses, this report provides an overview of the market and a brief profile of mobile operators. It also contains scenario forecasts for the years 2015 and 2020.
Key developments:
Mobile penetration crosses the 100% milestone; mobile market growth is driven by postpaid customers, mobile broadband, and smartphones; Vietnam’s Viettel enters the Peruvian mobile market; Viettel plans to invest US$250 million to deploy a fibre-optic network; Virgin Mobile plans to launch Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services in Peru; the government plans to auction spectrum for LTE services.
Companies covered in this report include:
Movistar Perú, Claro Perú, Nextel del Perú, Viettel Peru, Virgin Mobile.
