Business, Technology

Telefónica investment to increase communications coverage in Peru

Telefónica del Perú – a subsidiary of the Spanish telecommunications giant of the same name – said Fridayit will invest $1.5 billion in Peru between 2010 and 2013 to increase telecommunications coverage.

The president of Telefónica, César Alierta, said the investment would develop a core fibre optic communications network to increase broadband Internet coverage in Peru’s Andean highlands, state news agency Andina reported. The network will reportedly connect Pucallpa, the capital of the Ucayali department located in Peru’s central jungle, to Cusco, located in the country’s southern Andes.

“Peru should be confident that it can count on Telefónica as a strong influence for the development of information technology and communication, as well as the expansion of stationary and mobile broadband,” said Alierta.

The expansion of telecommunications technologies is recognized as an important tool for development in Peru. A recent study from the University of Maryland, for example, found the installation of telephones in isolated villages helped increase farmers income by allowing them to decrease agricultural costs and contact nearby markets to search for the best price for their produce.

There is currently little competition in Peru’s telecommunications sector, particularly among Internet service providers. In October 2008, the Peruvian Times reported that Telefónica del Perú was providing more than 90 percent of the country’s Internet service. A 2007 report by California-based Cisco Systems found that Peruvians were paying at least 40 percent more for Internet service than their neighbors in Chile, Colombia, and Argentina.

One Comment

  1. The remote village of San Martin de Tipishca in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve of the Peruvian Amazon just received its first telephone this past summer! Until that time, all communication was done via short wave radio in the village. It has changed the life there. To know more and see photos that indigenous children have taken of their everyday lives in the Peruvian Amazon, visit ninosdelaamazonia.org

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