MTC: Auditing Process on Comm Blackout Ready by End of Next Week

An external audit ordered by Peru's transport and communications ministry (MTC) to determine why communications collapsed after the earthquake that hit the south of the country last month will be ready by the end of next week, local daily Expreso reported transport and communications minister Verónica Zavala as saying.

Zabala said the national engineering university (UNI) and an engineering college started the audit on Monday August 27.

Mobile and fixed line operators have argued the collapse in communications was caused by unusually high congestion of traffic as well as to damages in infrastructure and not the result of faults on their networks.

In related news, Zabala has asked local telecoms regulator Osiptel to investigate deficiencies in mobile telephony service in general, saying the service is not adequate given the rapidly increasing penetration of mobile telephony in the country.

Zabala said the MTC will carry out inspections of the infrastructure of mobile and fixed line operators.

"The regulator is in charge of monitoring the quality of telecommunications in the country. However, as the ministry is preoccupied with the auditing process, it is asking the regulator to help out," Germán Pérez, director of local telecoms consultancy DN Consultores, told BNamericas.

"Some politicians are saying the increasing penetration in mobile telephony is not being accompanied by good quality service and that companies are selling more devices than what the existing networks can support," he added.

Posted to the site on 4th September 2007