Bitel posts double growth in six months
Bitel, a telecom service of Vietnam's telecommunications group Viettel in Peru, reported a turnover of 201 million soles (US$59.2 million) in the first half of the year.
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The number of Bitel's new subscribers reached 41 percent, five times higher than the average eight percent growth rate in Peru's telecommunications sector.
The number of people using the internet on their mobile phones in Peru accounted for 51 percent of the total internet users, seven times higher than that of broadband fixed-line subscribers. Sales of smartphones accounted for 70 percent of total devices sold in the country.
Bitel's 3G service turnover also rose by 4.5 times in the six-month period year-on-year. It is expected to provide 4G services by the end of this year.
Its 3G Only service, running on broadband of 900 MHz and 1,900 MHz, currently allows it to provide 4G services. Other network providers in Peru have had to invest more than 1 billion USD in broadband connections.
Bitel plans to achieve three million subscribers this year, double that of last year.
"We target meeting the demand of all our customers who currently do not have access to telecom services in Peru," Tao Duc Thang, Viettel's deputy general director in charge of the Peru market, said.
People in remote areas, such as the Amazonas, Lambayeque, La Libertad and Icaand Ayacucho, are still not connected to the internet and do not have mobile phones.
Bitel is considered the best internet provider in Peru. Its business results in some African countries have seen strong growth in terms of turnover and subscribers.
In the January-June period, Viettel's turnover from its foreign markets reached 493.8 million USD , posting a 13 percent year-on-year increase.
By the middle of this month, the total number of Viettel's customers in its nine foreign markets of Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste and Cameroon, as well as Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi, Peru and Tanzania was up to 90 million people.
Viettel, therefore, has been listed among the top 30 telecom groups due to the high number of customers, according to the statistics of GSMA Intelligence.
