It is a fact that telecommunications have had a positive effect, more important in rural areas of the country. People and the communities that they had access to roads to integrate into their community, have been widely favored by the implementation of Information Technology (ICT), which literally changed the lives of its inhabitants. "Telecommunications facilitate the development of business, increase productivity of activities such as livestock and agriculture, although the level of technology that many people use is the basic", said the president of the telecommunications consulting firm “Alterna”, Liliana Ruiz.

In addition, she said, it has generated a substantial improvement in public services like health and education. "This caused the living standards of rural populations improve, but the technological potential to develop is even higher", she said to the official gazette “El Peruano”.

In this regard, Ruiz said that ICTs offer more than phone calls or surfing the internet. "In rural areas have great untapped potential for development, with the consequent creation of new businesses that will not only allow the saving of financial resources but also of time". Ruiz said the best way to leverage the benefits of telecommunications technology is through policies that institutionalize their use and development.

"The efforts made by the State, through the Telecommunications Investment Fund (Fitel), have been instrumental in integrating populations. However, while there is extensive development of mobile telephony, which has grown faster, and the Internet, these services offer more benefits that are not fully exploited".

Therefore, she said, would be important to establish an institutionalized policy that exploits its full potential. "It could be, by an office under the President of the Republic" she suggested. According to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MTC), the end of this year about 12.045 locations will access to telecommunications services such as public telephone, or Internet telephony subscribers.

Last year with the support of Fitel, about 10.856 villages were benefited from these important services. It is expected that by 2012, the number of internet sites, residential and public telephony rise. Also, according to MTC, at the end of next year will be a total of 15.820 locations with access to telecommunications services.

Up to date, Fitel has a balance of resources by approximately of 400 million nuevos soles (aprox. 133 millions US$) and in addition there are 398 million already committed in the execution of various projects. In the first case, they plan to invest 259 million soles for the National Backbone, a fiber optic project. The MTC said that the remaining 103 million will be used in implementing an integration project between Loreto and San Martin, to provide telecommunications services to more than 350 surrounding villages. The government plans to increase the coverage of rural population centers for voice communications services (fixed, mobile and public use), which will increase from 27% registered in 2010 to 77% in 2016.

(Source: El Peruano Newspaper)
Further details