Peru vs. Bolivia

economic impact on telcom services during pandemic due to consumer unemployment; good mobile operator competition with LTE services; fixed-line tele-density remains among lowest in South America, with obstacles to growth including widespread poverty, fixed-to-mobile substitution, expensive telephone services, and geographical inaccessibility in the Andean mountains and Amazon jungles; government investment in underserved areas with fiber backbone; government facilitated virtual learning during pandemic via tablets with Internet connectivity; 3G network and new LTE services expanded providing mobile broadband to rural communities, though low penetration still exists; major importer of broadcasting equipment and computers from China (2021)

with low national GDP and remote landlocked geography, Bolivia's telecom services are historically expensive and neglected resulting in low penetration; fixed telecom market is provided by non-profit cooperatives focused on improvement of services such as broadband and paid TV services; some operators adopted fixed-wireless technologies and fiber-optic capacity; fixed broadband services migrating from DSL to fiber remain expensive and largely unavailable in many areas; historically relied on satellite services or terrestrial links and inaugurated a new cable running via Peru to the Pacific; operator aims to increase coverage through mobile networks for voice and data access, especially to rural areas; space agency plans to boost satellite-based Internet; in 2020, communications towers in Yapacani were destroyed due to pandemic conspiracy fears; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2021)