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Mobile Communications

Inexpensive and flexible payment plans are fueling a general shift from landlines to mobile phones throughout the country. The increase in mobile phone access has been very rapid- the ITU states that the number of mobile phone subscribers increased from just 2.3 million in 2002 to 20.95 million in 2008 (versus only 2.8 million landlines that year). [1]

Eighty four percent of the urban survey respondents said they own a mobile phone, versus 58 percent who said they have landlines. Household access to a Blackberry or an iPhone is limited to only 2 percent of the general urban population. As can be seen in chart MOB 1, mobile phones are more popular than landlines across all income groups, even for people in the low income group. This could be credited to cheaper plans, prepaid mobile phone options, etc. [2]

Table 1: Profile of Monthly Mobile Phone Users in Urban Peru

InterMedia Peru, 2009, survey of urban adults (15+), n = 535 who had used a mobile phone in the previous month

Chart 1

In Peru, prepaid plans are the most popular because of their very low cost. As in other countries in the region, people who have a prepaid plan do not have to pay for incoming calls. Prepaid cell phone cards are available everywhere and cost around $3-$5 dollars on average for talk time worth 1-2 hours (in 2009).

Urban Peruvians use their mobile phones for much more than making phone calls. SMS is particularly widespread, with 89 percent (of those respondents who had at least used their cell phones in the previous month) using them to send and receive text messages. The average cost of a text message in 2008 was the equivalent of 10 U.S. cents (based on a purchasing power parity exchange rate) versus 32 U.S. cents for a 1-minute on-network local call during peak hours. [3]

Many cell phone post-payment plans include unlimited text messaging. It is especially very popular among young people.

Chart 2

Chart MOB 2 shows the rate of use of SMS and other non-voice mobile phone functions reported by urban survey respondents. MOB 3 shows how popular it is to access other media on one’s mobile phone. Although listening to the radio on the phone is the most popular, web access is still very rare.

Chart 3

Even though men and women reported equal levels of household access to a mobile phone, male respondents were more likely than women to use every mobile phone activity asked about in the survey. Among all age groups, those 15-29 were more likely to be using their mobile phones for all these non-voice functions, and they are also more likely to have household access to mobile phones than any other age group.

As can be seen in Chart MOB 2, other popular activities on the mobile phone are playing games and listening to music. Accessing the internet on the mobile phone in Peru is still very expensive and is thus not as widespread. Telefonica del Peru’s Movistar is the lead provider followed by , Claro and Nextel. The mobile market has registered substantial gains in the past few years, and Peru has had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America.

[1] International Telecommunication Union ICT Statistics Database Accessed from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/Indicators/Indicators.aspxI

[2] Income Definition: For the purpose of the BBG Intermedia 2009 urban survey in Peru, “income” here is based on of a self-reported measure of family financial situation. “Low-income” refers to those respondents who report not having enough money to cover basic needs such as food and/or clothing. As such, this represents the poorest 38 percent of the population. “Middle-income” here refers to those respondents who said they could meet their basic needs, but could not save enough for large purchases such as refrigerators or televisions. This group represents 43 percent of the total population. “High-income” here refers to those respondents who report having disposable income sufficient to purchase some relatively expensive goods, such as refrigerators and televisions and those who can afford whatever they want. This comprises the top 19 percent of Indonesians surveyed.

[3] "Peru". Mobile Active.org. Accessed January 2010.  http://mobileactive.org/countries/peru