Telefonica Plans Large-scale Internet Expansion in Latin America by launching Internet Para Todos Peru (IpT Peru). Once successful in Peru, Telefonica will replicate the model in the rest of the Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Telefonica in collaboration with Facebook, IDB Invest and CAF has created Internet para Todos Peru aiming to expand mobile internet connectivity in Latin America. IpT Todos is an Open-Access wholesale rural mobile infrastructure operator, which will strive to reduce the digital divide existing in the Latin American States.
It is estimated that out of approximately 500 million people in the Latin American countries, about 20 percent of the population still do not have adequate access to mobile broadband and are therefore isolated from the rest of the 80 percent. IpT Peru plans to work to bring down this gap. The socio-economic benefits provided through the broadband has been denied to this 20 percent.
IpT Peru will try to solve the problem of rural mobile connectivity by using modern technologies with an economically sustainable business model based on open access model. The goal is to bring mobile broadband to remote populations where conventional telecom infrastructure deployment is not yet economically feasible.
As stated above around 100 million people of the Latin American population, do not yet have widespread access to mobile broadband and, therefore, to the benefits offered by the digital economy. IpT Peru’s mission is to bridge that digital divide and connect rural communities throughout Peru.
In order to achieve its mission, IpT Peru will enable the mobile network operators to use IpT’s 3G and 4G infrastructure to deliver high quality retail mobile communication services. The success of IpT in Peru will pave the way to replicate this type of business model in other countries in Latin America and The Caribbean region.
Telefónica del Peru is contributing and opening its existing rural business to IpT Peru. Facebook, IDB Invest and CAF are investing in IpT Peru, with the goal of upgrading existing voice services and building new sites to deliver fast mobile Internet coverage in a wholesale Network as a Service model (NaaS). The agreement is subject to regulatory approval.
In order to effectively bridge the digital divide and ensure the inclusivity in a near horizon, a holistic approach is required that would combine business, technological, and policy innovations with new ways of collaboration.
IpT Peru will help demonstrate that new business models which embrace open access principles and cooperation, new technologies, and the right policies can transform infrastructure into a NaaS to connect diverse communities across a challenging landscape while providing reasonable financial returns and time to market while serving as a model for other areas of the world.
IpT will offer wholesale access to its rural broadband infrastructure through a revenue share model that would enable mobile operators to deliver communication services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations in rural communities.
IpT will achieve economic sustainability through partnerships with local communities and by using open technologies that will reduce the cost of deployment in areas where current technologies are cost prohibitive. IpT will take advantage of cloud-like architectures, automated network planning, open radio access solutions (Open RAN) and a combination of optimized optical fiber and microwave networks.
Internet para Todos originally began as a Telefónica initiative that considers connectivity a fundamental requirement for access to the benefits provided by digitization and the economic and social progress of the people. With this innovative model of infrastructure deployment, and through projects collaborating with companies like Facebook, Telefónica del Peru has already connected to internet 2,000 communities in remote areas, benefiting around 600,000 people.
Delivering a scalable, efficient and high-quality mobile connectivity to rural communities is the practical solution to reduce the digital gap existing within a country. Through Internet Para Todos in Peru, the partners are investing in a new way of expanding rural access to mobile broadband, paving the way for the new approaches that the industry needs in order to ensure everyone has access to the benefits of the internet.
Both IDB and CAF had supported projects that could reduce the gaps existing between communities in the Latin and Caribbean region.
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