Introduction

Urban Peruvians, the focus of this report, generally have greater economic, education and employment opportunities than their rural counterparts. Urban Peruvians also have much greater access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), reflecting not only income disparities but also the lack of infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas, particularly in the difficult terrain of the Amazon regions.

The access and use of newer ICTs has grown substantially in the past few years. Mobile phones have become far more accessible (a little more than eight in 10 urban Peruvians said they own one in an InterMedia survey of urban Peruvians) and have even overtaken landlines in terms of rates of ownership. Internet use and access have increased substantially (half of the respondents said they use the internet weekly) while their web use is also becoming more sophisticated, spanning a wider array of functions and websites.

Urban youth are at the forefront of new media trends, including Web 2.0 activities such as blogging and social networking. With the help of cheaper internet access points such as at the numerous cabinas publicas, and cheaper mobile connections, access is also broadening to encompass more socioeconomic groups.

Television access is near universal in urban Peru and 93 percent of those surveyed said they watch television daily. Television is also considered one of the most important sources of information by the survey respondents. Radio is the second-most popular source of information; its overall use is lower than television; only 75 percent listen to radio daily. FM is the most-used waveband.

Chart 1

Despite growing mobile phone and internet access and use, the weekly use of traditional media such as newspapers and radios remains high (see chart 2).

Chart 2

In terms of weekly news preferences, television is the most important source of news and information among the urban survey respondents in Peru. Radio is also an important source with 81 percent of urban respondents tuning in weekly for news.

Chart 3

Newspapers are still a relevant source of news in the electronic media age -83 percent of those surveyed said they read a newspaper at least once a week for news and information (see chart 3)and about half said they read the newspaper daily (not shown in chart). The typical newspaper reader is a well educated male. Internet and SMS use for news are lower than for other media.

Since the government began privatizing and liberalizing the telecommunications sector in the early 1990s, the media and communications markets have seen substantial gains in access and use. In 2009, the International Telecommunication Union's ICT Development Index ranked Peru 74th out of 150 countries (the index measures levels of ICT access and use and the extent of ICT infrastructure. Peru ranked higher than fellow South American countries Bolivia (98th) and Paraguay (96th) but lower than Argentina ( 47th) and 48th-ranked Chile.

Media freedom in the country is strong but not absolute; some sections of the press continue to experience overt or covert government control that was characteristic of the Alberto Fujimori presidency of the 1990s. Influential economic groups and provincial authorities or civil organizations are also known to exercise their influence over the media.