Peru coverage

What the Peru numbers mean

Two numbers matter and only one of them is the one every seller quotes. The typical speed, 35 Mbps, tells you what a good moment looks like.

The tenth percentile, 8 Mbps, is the one that matters. It is the speed in the worst tenth of the day, when the cell above the station is full and everybody around you is on it too. A country with a high median and a low floor is a country that works beautifully right up until the moment you actually need it.

If the trip depends on video calls or tethering, plan around the busy figure rather than the typical one.

What happens in Peru when the network is busy

Congestion is not a fault, it is a Tuesday evening. The question is what your eSIM can do about it, and for most travel eSIMs the answer is nothing: one wholesale agreement per country, one network, and no way out except buying a second eSIM from somebody else while standing in the street.

Here, Orbislo traffic runs over Claro and Movistar. When the network you are on degrades we move you to another one, mid trip, without you asking, and tell you afterwards rather than interrupting you at the time.

Mobile operators in Peru

• Claro: Claro held 33.35 percent of Peru's mobile lines that carried traffic at the end of March 2026, the largest share, out of 39.4 million active lines nationwide.
• Bitel: Bitel held 24.01 percent of active mobile lines at the end of March 2026, second only to Claro.
• Entel: Entel Perú held 22.54 percent of active mobile lines at the end of March 2026.
• Movistar: Movistar held 19.81 percent of active mobile lines at the end of March 2026, while virtual operators together held 0.29 percent.
• Movistar (Integratel Perú): Telefónica del Perú, the company behind Movistar, changed its legal name to Integratel Perú in June 2025 after its sale, remaining the same legal entity for customers.

5G in Peru

• In the 3.5 GHz auction of 12 September 2025, Viettel took 3400 to 3500 MHz, Claro 3500 to 3600 MHz, Entel 3300 to 3400 MHz and Integratel 3600 to 3700 MHz. No bidder chose the last block, 3700 to 3800 MHz.
• The ministry formalised the 3.5 GHz results in September 2025. Operators must adapt their networks in Lima, Callao, Trujillo, Arequipa and Ica within six months, and in other provinces within nine, or twelve in parts of Lambayeque and Lima.
• The 5G contracts signed in December 2025 commit Bitel, Claro, Entel and Integratel to connect 1,164 institutions to 5G by the end of 2026, including 1,056 schools, 49 public universities and 51 level III hospitals.
• The same contracts oblige the four operators to bring 4G to 1,731 rural localities and cover 2,230 km of national highways within four years, with a quarter of the commitments due in the first year.

Network notes for Peru

• Of the 39.4 million lines that carried traffic at the end of March 2026, 20.59 million were postpaid or control plans and 18.80 million prepaid. Counting lines with no traffic, 42.19 million were in service.
• In November 2025 the ministry listed 632 localities where the only mobile infrastructure is 2G, so mobile data there is limited to 2G speeds.
• On 31 January 2024 a satellite failure knocked out 177 of Claro's 2G base stations in villages across several regions. The last, San Antonio del Estrecho in Loreto, was restored on 17 February 2024 after technicians flew in on an air force flight.
• When a network outage cuts service, Peruvian operators must credit affected subscribers on their bill for the time the service was interrupted, and OSIPTEL checks that the refunds are made.
• The ministry says 234 rural localities got 4G mobile service for the first time between October 2025 and May 2026, and 412 more were selected for coverage during 2026.