The state of play in Peru’s telecoms market

Peru ended 2022 with 41.6mn mobile lines in service, 3.27mn fixed internet accesses, 1.90mn pay-TV subscriptions and 1.89mn landlines.

The figures, reported by telecoms regulator Osiptel, indicate an annual decline in all services except for fixed internet, with fiber broadband as the trailblazer. 

According to Osiptel, the number of fiber optics connections nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022, reaching 1.22mn. 

Among the main telecom groups, results were mixed, with Telefónica being the biggest loser overall. Both the company and Claro continued to lose market share in fixed internet to newer players, while mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Guinea Mobile grew the most in the segments, followed by also by incumbents Entel and Claro.

BNamericas breaks down the race per segment.

FIXED INTERNET

Of the 3.27mn accesses registered in 2022, 37.4% comprised fiber optics, the only technology to grow at double-digit rates and the engine of fixed broadband. These connections, however, remain concentrated in the richer and most populous departments of Lima and Callao.

In five years, the number of FTTH subscriptions in Peru has increased at an accumulated average annual growth rate of 172%, according to Osiptel.

The biggest fiber broadband winners last year were Wow and the Wi-net y Optical Technologies group, which increased their market share by 7.75 percentage points and 2.05 percentage points over 2021.

Market leader Telefónica, meanwhile, lost 12.2 percentage points and Claro 2.21 percentage points.

Telefonica operated 38.6% of all FTTH accesses, followed by Wi-net y Optical Technologies (23.7%), Claro (13.2%), Wow (11.5%), the group made up of Fiberlux, Fiberlux Tech and Fiberline (2.92%), and others (9.94%).

MOBILE

Telefónica also lost participation in the mobile segment. 

Of the 41.6mn mobile lines in service, the Spanish group operated 12.5mn, down 5.45 percentage points over the previous year.

Other groups to lose steam were Bitel and MVNO Flash, while Guinea Mobile’s share grew the most.

Among the biggest players, Entel and Claro increased their mobile lines by 4.42% and 1.16% over 2021. As of year-end, Telefónica had 30% of the market, Claro 29.7%, Entel 23% and Bitel 16.7%. Of the total, 62.9% of mobile lines were prepaid and 37.1% postpaid.

Peru is one of the most competitive mobile markets in Latin America and among the few in which four players enjoy two-digit market participation.

Claro could be on track to overtake Telefónica as the main mobile player.

Osiptel did not provide numbers on the type of mobile technology. 

At the end of Q2, 26.3mn mobile lines had accessed the internet, nearly 90% of which via 4G devices.

PAY TV AND LANDLINES

Around 70% of the 1.9mn pay-TV subscriptions were via cable, the rest being delivered via satellite, according to Osiptel, which does not break down the type of cable technology.

The satellite service was the only one to grow in the year.

The segment is led by Telefónica, with 54.8% of all pay-TV accesses, down from 61.4% the year before. Next comes satellite TV operator DirecTV, with 18.4% (up from 17.7%) and Claro (11.2%, up from 9.86%).

Telefónica continues to dominate fixed telephony as well, with 58.2% of all landlines in service compared to 64.2% in 2021.

Claro’s share grew to 32.5%, from 28.3%, and Entel’s to 5.75% from 3.16%.