23.4% of us and still growing
Well it’s not growing that fast, according to the latest figures published by the INEI. In fact, the population connected to internet has only increased by 3.5% in urban area, and now 23.4% of households is connected. Those numbers aren’t really a surprise, when we know that 64.7% of the population is still using internet-cabins to connect. Unsurprisingly also, the group of 25+ is the most active with 36.5% using internet at home. At last 33.4% of the population declare to use Internet at least once a week. So what to think about those numbers, when some countries declare Internet as a right?
Well I would say that as so many other sector, Peru has a long way to go, but could transform the gap into an opportunity, if the country manage the change cleverly. To give you an idea about that gap, UK has a internet penetration rate of 73%, France stands at 69%, compared to the 23.4% in Peru. I remember the effort of the French public body, to emphasis the use of Internet and the effort to invest in proper communication infrastructure, as did many other European Countries. Actually northern European countries are probably the best examples, with Norway at 90.9% and Sweden at 89.2%. And Peru should do so. Today a basic 1MB internet connection cost you around 50US$, while the average income is around 200$ per month. Would you spend nearly 25% of your wage on Internet? Probably not.
On the other hand, I’m not pretty sure that Telco are making their best effort to support the growth. I had to decrease my connection at home from 2MB to 1MB, as Telefonica admits they couldn’t deliver a stable 2MB connection due to the increase of new users in the area. In other word, the pipe was far too small to address the (little) demand.
But let’s hope those numbers will continue to increase. Let’s also hope Government will push for better infrastructure and as other countries in the continent (Argentina, Chile) will encourage the population to use more and more Internet. I can’t imagine an Emerging country, aiming to reach the next level, without considering Internet.
