FTTH fiber broadband situation in Peru

Peru sees the promotion of competition, the enforcement and adoption of new forms of infra sharing and lighter regulation as some of the keys to accelerate the deployment and penetration of fiber broadband.

Peru ended 2021 with 3mn fixed internet connections, up 10.8% compared to December 2020, for the second year with double-digit growth.

However, fiber still represents only 23% of total connections in Peru (up from 13% in 2020), the rest being mostly coaxial cables, as well as hybrid fiber cables (HFC). In comparison, fiber is already the leading fixed broadband technology in countries like Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.

Muente expects the penetration of these legacy technologies in Peru to drop faster in the coming years in the wake of the approval of a new law securing minimal broadband speeds for users.

According to Quiso, fiber broadband has been growing in Peru since 2018, with a strong uptake in 2020 and 2021. 

The official projects the country will reach 1.6mn FTTH connections by the end of 2024, up from around 952,000 projected for the end of this year.

By then, fiber should account for nearly 40% of the projected fixed broadband connections, compared to 28% forecast for end-2022.

Currently, around 354 urban centers in Peru have access to at least one fiber-to-the-home offering, according to Quiso. 

Furthermore, the price of a megabit per second has significantly fallen over the years, whereas the average speed has increased, although Peru still fares below many Latin American markets in speed terms.

However, Quiso claims that there is still a high concentration in the fixed broadband market in the country. Telefónica has been losing its dominance over the years but ended 2021 with nearly 60% of all fixed broadband accesses in the country.

In fiber specifically, Telefónica had 52% of accesses, followed by Wi-Net Telco with 21% and Claro with 16%.

The regulator said it has been imposing tougher sharing obligations on Telefónica Peru, most notably since October 2020, and that around 150 poles operated by the telco are used for the deployment of last-mile fiber.