Peru’s telecoms market: The state of play

Fiber optics has consolidated itself as the main broadband access in Peru, accounting for 65.4% of all fixed internet connections in the country at end-June, according to the latest data from telecoms regulator Osiptel.

Fiber surpassed cable modem as the most common manner of accessing fixed internet in Peru last year, but as of June 30, 2023, the technology was still neck-and-neck with traditional copper cable, each accounting for around 46% of the market. 

The growth rate in new fiber accesses between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024 was one of the fastest seen among the major economies in the region.

Other highlights in the period include a surge in postpaid mobile lines, driving overall growth in the mobile segment, and the rise of Wow as a key player in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) amid declines in the market shares of its rivals Telefónica, Grupo Win and Claro.

BNamericas takes a look at the latest figures in the Peruvian telecoms market.

FIXED BROADBAND

Peru had 2.5 million fiber connections at end-June out of a total 3.88mn fixed internet connections, soaring by 61.6% compared with June 30, 2023.

The low base of comparison was largely the reason for the rapid growth, as countries with higher levels of fiber adoption, such as Brazil, Chile or Uruguay, are seeing lower fiber expansion rates than Peru or Colombia, for example.

The bulk of fiber connections in the country are in Lima province and neighboring Callao, which together represent 55.8% of the total fiber connections nationwide.

As for other technologies, cable modem or HFC (hybrid fiber coaxial) continues to decline, representing 30.1% of total connections at end-June. The remaining 4.44% involves legacy technologies such as DSL.

Among the main players in the segment, the companies Win and Wow together accounted for more than 41% of the market for fixed internet via fiber.

Telefónica continues to lead the fiber broadband segment with a 31.2% market share, followed by Win (21.7%), Wow (19.8%) and Claro (12.6%). All except for Wow lost market share compared with end-June 2023. 

Grupo Win lost 2.8 percentage points of its market share in the period, which was mainly captured by Wow, which grew 3.6 percentage points, distanced itself from Claro and consolidated its position in third place.

Other players in the fiber broadband segment include MiFibra (3.6% market share), Fiberline (2.7%), P Y D Telecom (1.9%), and Bitel (1.1%).

Meanwhile, Entel has lost the majority of its fixed internet contracts in Peru, falling to just over 57,000 at end-June from a high of 152,000 at the end of the first quarter of 2021.

Source: Osiptel

MOBILE

Fueled by the postpaid segment, the number of mobile lines in Peru grew 1.9% year-on-year to 41.9mn at end-June. Net additions in the period reached 764,633 lines, according to Osiptel.

Meanwhile, postpaid lines were up to 18.2mn by the end of 1H24 from 17.4mn at the end of 1H23. 

Despite the growth, Peru remains a largely prepaid market, with these contracts accounting for 56.5% of the market. However, these clients provides lower average revenue per user (ARPU) for telcos.

With respect to the operators, Claro (América Móvil) continued to lead the market with 12.6mn lines (30.1% market share) at end-June. 

It was followed by Telefónica with 11.9mn lines (28.3%), Entel with 9.36mn (22.3%) and Bitel with 7.89mn (18.8%). 

Meanwhile, MVNOs Dolphin Mobile, Flash Servicios, Guinea Mobile, Suma Móvil, Intermax and Dolphin Telecom together accounted for 0.41% of the mobile market at the end of June, according to Osiptel.

Bitel, Claro and Movistar grew their mobile bases by 3.54%, 2.45% and 2.09% respectively compared with end-June 2023, while Entel saw a drop of 0.32%, and the other mobile operators together lost 10.5%).

Source: Osiptel