Internet Para Todos
“About 22% of the population of Peru lives in rural areas and by 2017, mobile penetration in the country was approaching 80%. Despite these access levels, a large proportion of Peruvians do not have mobile broadband and in 2018, at least 80% of towns in Peru had no internet coverage, especially if they were located in rural areas. For Peruvians living in the area of the Andes mountain range, before June 2019 it was impossible to go online because the infrastructure to do so did not exist there.” (A4AI, 2022). “Rural internet coverage has long been a challenge as technologies are not designed for areas with low population density, and business models are usually incompatible with the needs of the rural population. Large-scale infrastructural investments are also generally geared towards urban areas.” (Oxford Business Group). To address this urban-rural divide, the government “began the Internet para Todos initiative (IpT, or ‘Internet for Everyone’ in English), a public-private partnership, in June 2019. This partnership aimed to connect 6 million rurally located Peruvians by the end of 2021.” (A4AI, 2022).
Key stakeholders involved: Telefónica, Facebook, CAF, IDB Invest
Geography: Peru
3 Barriers Addressed
Most Relevant Segments
- 01. Excluded, marginalized
- 02. Excluded, high potential
- 03. Included, underserved
- 04. Included, not underserved
Most Relevant Customer Journey Phases
- Phase 1: Account Ownership
- Phase 2: Basic Account Usage
- Phase 3: Active Account Usage
- Phase 4: Economic Empowerment
Key activities
“As a tool for the government to bridge the digital divide, the IpT is furthering this goal by adopting a revenue sharing model to reduce network implementation costs, deploying more inexpensive and innovative OpenRAN network architecture and technologies, offering wholesale access to 3G and 4G broadband infrastructure, and working in partnership with local communities to help reduce deployment costs.” (A4AI, 2022). “Internet Para Todos offers wholesale access to Telefónica’s rural broadband infrastructure allowing any mobile operator to use existing 3G and 4G infrastructure.” (Oxford Business Group).
Outcomes/results
“To date, over 1,000 rural communities have benefited from IpT and 1.5 million people have been able to access the internet for the first time. With over 3,000 cell sites upgraded from 2G to 4G, the IpT has also taken great strides to make the connectivity meaningful.” (A4AI, 2022). Teachers in schools have received donated tablets and are using a rotational system so that all students will have the opportunity to build their digital skills. IpT aims to connect 6 million rurally located Peruvians by the end of 2021.
Key enabling environment factors for the intervention
The Government of Peru has worked to ensure that rural populations “are not excluded from the digital revolution” and has been a critical enabler for IpT’s work in Peru. “One of the first steps taken was the introduction of the Telecom Law, which enabled the creation of the Telecom Investment Fund. This fund was designed to facilitate finance for telecommunications infrastructure deployment and service provision in rural areas, with funds coming from telcos’ annual revenue. To help lessen the financial burden on network operators, the government went further by promoting infrastructure sharing so that rural populations can benefit from such collaborations in the private sector. Law No. 28295 promotes telecommunication sector competition and enables infrastructure sharing to reduce costs for rural network deployments.” (A4AI, 2022).
Key design elements and principles that led to successful outcomes
This program was designed to be affordable for mobile network operators by promoting infrastructure sharing and the creation of the Telecom Investment Fund. These design elements help reduce barriers to serving rural areas.
Télefonica has also begun donating internet-enabled devices so that residents can build their digital skills and take advantage of the new internet access.
Potential for scale/replicability
“Beyond Peru, the goal of IpT is to replicate the approach in other Latin American and Caribbean countries where some 100 million people still do not have internet access. Today, IpT partners are exploring opportunities to expand to isolated areas of Colombia as a next step.” (IADB).
Recommendations from the research
The IpT partners have made it clear that adopting a revenue sharing model can help prove that connecting communities in isolated areas can provide a financial return.
Aside from recommendations made by the partners, IpT could benefit from integrating more digital literacy training into the programming. Digital literacy training does not seem to be a major focus, unlike Costa Rica’s Hogares Conectados program discussed previously. By implementing more digital skills building activities, IpT partners can ensure that residents are actually taking advantage of the services provided to them.
