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Osiptel: Mobile phone use continues to grow in isolated regions

Peru continues to see a large jump in the use of mobile phones in its most isolated regions over the past several years, according to the president of telecommunication services regulator Osiptel, Guillermo Thornberry.

In Ucayali department, the use of cell phones has soared 11 times. “In the past five years, the use of cellular phones in Ucayali has grown outrageously, approximately 11 times, from 33,000 to 340,000 cells in the period,” state news agency Andina reported Thornberry as saying.

In Pucallpa department, cell phone use has climbed 74 percent in the five year period.

“Nowadays the most dynamic growth is coming from Peru’s most isolated  rural aeas and in departments where before there was no telecommunications infrastructure,” Thornberry said.

Lima is still the most developed market for cell phones, with approximately 1.2 phones per capita in a city of now over 9 million inhabitants. 

“Lima is a mature market for mobile phones and so are Arequipa and Trujillo,” he said.

The expansion of telecommunications technologies is recognized as an important tool for development and Osiptel has been working on implementing new regulations to decrease costs of cell phone service.

In 2010, Thornberry estimates that Peruvians saved about 220 million soles, about $79.4 million, thanks to new regulations that include the elimination of long-distance tariffs for cell phone calls.

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