Vietnamese-owned Viettel Group last week officially launched its Bitel-branded mobile service in Peru. The operator, the fourth entrant into the market, launched with a 3G network that it said covers 80% of the nation with mobile broadband service.
Viettel in early 2013 initially launched technical operations under contractual obligations with the government. In a statement, Viettel CEO Hoang Quoc Quyen said he hopes Bitel will contribute significantly to Peru’s booming data market.
Peru is Viettel’s first overseas market that has a considerably higher gross domestic product than Vietnam. Viettel’s international business posted nearly $8 billion in revenues last year, with Quyen noting that the Peruvian launch was a milestone for the company’s globalization plans. The company currently serves 68 million customers across 10 countries.
Backbone: Peru said it expects the construction and operation of a national fiber optic backbone will integrate 92% of the country’s provincial capitals, providing support for high-speed communications and greater reliability. The comments were made by Deputy Minister of Communications Raúl Pérez-Reyes Mirror, during his participation in the Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union.
Peru has been working on integrating fiber optic networks at district levels to expand the provisioning of broadband into 21 regions. According to Mirror, Peru is expected to have 40,000 kilometers of optical fiber by 2017.
New quality rules: Peru telecom regulator Osiptel approved new rules designed to ensure quality of Internet and telecom services. The Regulations for the Quality of Telecommunication Services require operators to ensure their users have access to at least 40% of their contracted Internet speed.
America Movil results: Mexico-based telecom giant America Movil saw its third-quarter net income drop 39.3% compared to the previous year. The carrier ended the quarter with 286.8 million wireless connections. Wireless voice and data services accounted for 34.7% and 27%, respectively, of the company’s service revenues for the quarter. Total revenues grew 4% year-over-year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased only .4%.
More Latin American news:
- Chile’s senate approved free choice in terms of selecting telecommunication services within a building. The decision means that consumers, and not the building administration, have the final say in terms of which company provides telecom services.
- IDC reported that 9.1 million smartphones were sold in Brazil in July and August. Feature phone sales declined 46% in July and 49% in August.
- Argentina launched its first national satellite. The Arsat-1 took seven years to develop and was manufactured by state-run firm Invap in the southern city of Bariloche.
- Chile says that 66% of its citizens have access to an Internet connection on a daily basis.. The government expects to reach 70% access by the end of this year.
- Brazil’s smart-grid market has around 200 projects in process with a total investment of $650 million.
- Millicom reported Q3 earnings, showing 1.46 million mobile net additions mostly driven by operations in Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia
- Uruguay’s mobile broadband penetration increased 16.9%.
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