Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones, MTC) has announced plans to implement measures that it hopes will inject around PEN1.5 billion (USD413 million) into the mobile sector with the goal of providing more than 2,600 communities with 4G connectivity for the first time.
Commenting on the need for the network expansion works, MTC head Eduardo Gonzalez explained: ‘The difficult situation calls for making efforts and accelerating the expansion of telecommunications services in the shortest term … The internet access gap between urban and rural areas creates limitations for development and integration into the digital world.’ The MTC’s plans include structuring the upcoming competition for AWS-3 and 2300MHz spectrum based on investment commitments for the deployment of 4G sites in rural areas, which the ministry claims could provide an additional PEN1 billion for the expansion of coverage to 1,590 locations.
The MTC has also proposed modifying the methodology for renewal of qualifying titles for coverage, which could add investment commitments for around PEN450 million. MTC notes that the renewal process is expected to be completed by June. Finally, the MTC has proposed the introduction of a new fee for the use of spectrum for telecoms services, potentially increasing investment from PEN7 million in 2020 to PEN130 million 2021.
