Bellsouth launches mobile Internet service

US-based telco Bellsouth (NYSE: BLS) has launched in Peru a new service called Bellsouth Internet Movil, which Bellsouth expects to eventually offer in all the Latin American countries where it operates, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Bellsouth Internet Movil offers business users the full integration of a PC-based calendar, directory, e-mail, short messaging and instant messaging features. For consumers, the service lets users access the Internet with simple voice commands that allow them to find headline news, weather, sports scores, movies and horoscopes. These features are provided from a multi-access Internet portal designed by IT solutions provider Starmedia Networks. Customers can access the portal through both cellular and fixed line phones, as well as personal computers. According to Bellsouth International chief marketing officer Robert Peon, Bellsouth Internet Movil gets around the two greatest obstacles to Internet use in Latin America - low penetration of personal computers in homes and high costs of landline domestic Internet use. Bellsouth (NYSE: BLS) has operations in 11 countries in Latin America, including Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Panama, Guatemala and Nicaragua.