Peru proposes to deregulate fixed line telephony

Peru's telecoms watchdog Osiptel has carried out a public consultation on the possibility of deregulating the fixed line telephony rates of incumbent Telefónica del Perú.

The bill could be approved in March, Osiptel general manager Sergio Cifuentes told local daily Gestión.

The regulator has proposed to eliminate the rates ceilings for category 1 (fixed monthly fee, additional minute charges, long distance and installation fee), and fixed-mobile services and move to a more supervisory model.

As an alternative, Osiptel proposes for companies to inform the pertinent authority (SIRT) of any change in rates 30 days and users 20 days before implementing them.

This is double the time required under current regulation.

Likewise with fixed-mobile services, operators would be unable to increase rates when they add minutes to a particular plan and leave customers with the option of opting out of any new services offered.

If approved, the deregulation would be revised after the third year of implementation and regulation could be reinstated if deemed necessary.

The fixed line services market is currently stagnated. According to Osiptel statistics, fixed lines fell to 3.01mn in September 2018 from 3.67mn in 2013 with decreases seen in local, national and long distance traffic.