# Speedtest® Market Report

### Peru

#### Published September 27, 2016

Though growing, the Peruvian fixed broadband and mobile internet markets are laden with obstacles (geography and low income, among others) resulting in less than impressive speeds. Peru currently sits 102nd in the world for fixed broadband download speeds, and 75th for mobile internet download speeds. Fixed broadband download speeds grew by an average of 19% over the last year ending in June with just above 10 Mbps. Upload speeds also increased by what would seem is an impressive 33%, but actual average upload speeds were only 1.83 Mbps in June 2016; quite low by global standards.

Meanwhile, mobile speeds have been on the rise and continue to improve at a rapid rate, with average download and upload speeds showing a 42% and 65% gain, respectively. While the mobile market is growing much faster than the fixed broadband markets, ISPs intend to continue to increase fixed broadband availability and improve speeds. However, progress matching that of the mobile market seems unlikely due to varying obstacles.

## Speedtest by Ookla: Over 9 billion tests and counting...

### The Definitive Source for Internet Metrics

Speedtest is the most popular and trusted way to measure internet performance. Using Speedtest, consumers can accurately test their connection speeds from any of their devices at any time, whether in their home, at work, or on the go. Speedtest doesn't rely on background testing that surreptitiously collects data at the wrong times, or use drive testing that only collects data where cars can drive. Insights from Speedtest are always based on actual internet speeds experienced by hundreds of millions of consumers around the world.

Hundreds of millions of users worldwide

Over 8 million tests
every single day

5,000+ geographically distributed servers

Measuring both
broadband & mobile

### Peru Fixed Broadband Speeds

### Report Stats

#### TEST COUNT:

5,256,494

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (DOWNLOAD):

19 %

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (UPLOAD):

34 %

### Peru Mobile Speeds

### Report Stats

#### TEST COUNT:

178,465

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (DOWNLOAD):

42 %

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (UPLOAD):

65 %

Peru, which has a population of 31.5 million, saw fixed broadband availability jump from 17% to 40% in the past decade. Even though it has shown improvement, Peru still has one of the lowest broadband penetration rates in South America (only Bolivia ranks lower). Just 23% of households have access to fixed broadband; challenging geography made up of widespread mountains and forests, and a relatively low-income population, play into the relative lack of availability. Conversely, 91% of households have access to mobile phones and of those, 51% use mobile phones to access the internet. Four million mobile lines are 4G-enabled and it’s expected that the number of smartphones will surpass 5 million in 2016. Further, Osiptel, the telecom regulator in Peru, registered a 4% growth in investments in the sector in the mobile sector during 2015, totalling US$1.17 billion due to the release of the 700 Mhz band and new entrants to the market. This growth is positive considering almost all providers increased their investments from previous years.

Speedtest data supports this trend of increased mobile performance compared to fixed broadband. Average download speeds for fixed broadband and mobile in June 2016 are essentially the same at 10.63 Mbps and 10.61 Mbps, respectively. The difference being that mobile speeds have improved 42% from last year, but fixed broadband growth has seen a less impressive increase at 19%. Further, average mobile upload speeds have blown average fixed broadband upload speeds away. In June 2016, mobile upload speeds improved 65% from last year to 6.95 Mbps, while fixed broadband speeds ended the same period with a meager upload speed of just 1.83 Mbps.

### Peru Fastest ISPs

### Download

#### FASTEST: Movistar

Movistar is the fastest broadband provider, notching 18.14 Mbps of download in Q1 and Q2 of 2016. Their speeds are trending upward, jumping from 15.97 Mbps in January to 25.41 Mbps in July. The provider is apart of the Telefonica group who committed to invest US$2 billion between 2015 and 2018, and has a fiber network of 10,000 km and 900,000 4G LTE lines in Peru.

### Upload

#### FASTEST: Claro

Claro notched an average 14.79 Mbps download speed in Q1 and Q2 of this year, having a declining trend from 19.93 Mbps in January to 13.95 Mbps in July. Claro is owned by the América Móvil Group and is set to invest US$1 billion in Peru over the three years starting in 2015.

The two top broadband providers in Peru are Movistar (a subsidiary of Telefonica Spain) and Claro (owned by América Móvil). Movistar achieved a top tier speed of 18.14 Mbps download in the first half of 2016 and has clearly showed improvements as the year has progressed, jumping from 15.97 Mbps in January to 25.42 Mbps in July. Claro showed a respectable 14.79 Mbps in the first half of 2016. However, Claro had a declining trend from 19.93 Mbps in January to 11.53 Mbps in June. It’s difficult to ascertain whether this decline in speed is due to capacity or infrastructure issues, but either way it changes the overall picture of internet usage for Claro’s customers.

In 2016, the Peruvian government signed contracts worth $1 billion to connect 1,387 cities and 21 regions via a fiberoptic network totaling 30 thousand kilometers. Seven regions will be impacted immediately. The goal of this mega-project is to provide broadband availability to a larger swath of Peruvian society, including to public services like schools, health centers and the police. Based on the contracts, services will need to be rolled out in the next five years. It is estimated that these infrastructure improvements will allow the country to jump from 34th to 24nd in a ranking of connectivity in Latin America.

#### HOW SPEEDTEST MEASURES FIXED BROADBAND

ISPs offering fixed broadband services are ranked based on top speed performance, which is determined using the 90th percentile of the download and upload speeds, or Top 10%, of each ISP’s Speedtest results. While many ISPs offer various service tiers, our aim is to determine who is fastest by showing the performance achieved by each residential ISP’s top tier. These speeds represent customers who subscribe to faster service tiers and provide an accurate view of the top-end performance of a given ISP. It is important to note that customers subscribing to higher tiers will generally pay more for their service than the average subscriber. For purposes of this report, only Top Providers in a given location were included in the analysis. Each ISP that accounts for at least 3% of the total sample size in the geographic area are included as a Top Provider. When analyzing Peru overall, we use the average speed, as it represents the experience of a typical consumer in Peru. When comparing ISPs individually, we use top speed performance, as it represents the performance a consumer could reasonably expect to receive if they subscribe to one of the ISP’s higher tiers of service.

### Peru Fastest Mobile

### Download

#### FASTEST: Entel Peru

Entel is the fastest mobile operator in Peru, with a 29.04 Mbps download speed. Having recently purchased Nextel Peru assets, Entel targeted and won tens of thousands of customers from competitors, and intends to invest US$1.65 billion between 2015 and 2020.

### Upload

#### FASTEST: Entel Peru

Entel Peru shows that it not only provides the fastest download, but also upload speeds. In fact, the company outmatches its competition with upload speeds faster than some competitors’ download speeds. This bodes well for users who want a more complete mobile internet experience.

The mobile operators are Entel (a company of Entel Chile), Movistar, Claro, and Bitel (owned by Vietnam’s Viettel Mobile). Entel and Movistar are the fastest mobile operators with 28.99 Mbps and 20.36 Mbps, respectively. These speeds are on par with, or above, what you might see for average download speeds for mobile internet in the United States and Europe. Claro comes in at a distant third with 8.68 Mbps and Bitel is last with a lackluster 3.22 Mbps.

Entel enjoys about 25% of the market share with its sights set to achieve 30% in 2016. Entel purchased Nextel Peru’s assets, targeted and won tens of thousands customers from their competitors, and intends to invest $650 million in expansion of their 4G network and new antennas between 2015 and 2017.

The subscriber base in Peru is growing thanks to low cost and prepaid mobile plans that have allowed lower income individuals to access mobile internet. Bitel, which owns a 9,300 mile fiber network in Peru, launched low cost mobile plans in 2014 and in one year reached 1 million subscribers, or 3% of market share. The company intends to reach 2.5 million subscribers in 2016. Virgin Mobile recently debuted in Peru as the country’s first MVNO after regulations changed in 2015 and currently offers only prepaid plans. Virgin Mobile expects to grab a 3% to 4% stake in the Peruvian market and is estimated to have invested $30 million in the first quarter of 2016.

#### HOW SPEEDTEST MEASURES MOBILE CARRIERS

The top mobile carriers in Peru are ranked using the average download speed of “Modern Devices” - those devices that are capable of connecting to the fastest, broadly-available wireless networks. In Peru, this means devices capable of 4G LTE. This ensures we provide an accurate view of the typical performance a user can achieve using a modern smartphone or tablet on a given mobile network. Top carriers are those that each account for at least 3% of the sample size in the geographic area. When analyzing the country as a whole, we use the mean value of all cellular results to account for the typical user. However, when analyzing individual carriers, we look at “Modern Devices” to account for top speeds available in Peru.

## Market Summary

Given that Peru faces geographic and socioeconomic challenges, 4G is currently the most promising connectivity technology for the majority of Peruvians. It’s estimated that Peru has five thousand 4G sites and it will require $2 billion in additional investment from telecom companies to cover the whole country in 4G. It remains to be seen how fast Peruvians will close the gap in broadband access compared to other countries in the region. But with prices being reduced for fixed broadband users, the pervasiveness of mobile internet, and the reintroduction of prepaid mobile plans, performance could be increasing sooner rather than later.

This report was written with contributions by Roger Krolow.

### Powered By

## Speedtest Intelligence

Speedtest Intelligence is a comprehensive business intelligence platform, providing the unparalleled ability to analyze network performance for any location or service provider around the globe. It is trusted as a vital research and analysis tool by businesses and governments worldwide.

Speedtest Intelligence has the data science built-in, taking advantage of Speedtest’s expertise in measuring and evaluating internet performance data. Since the work is already done, you can avoid collecting, storing and aggregating Speedtest data.

For more information visit Speedtest Intelligence.