As far as we know, this is a temporary measure and the Peruvian National Telecommunications Plan (Pronatel), which is part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC), has taken over the operation and maintenance of the national fibre optic backbone (RDNFO).
The organisation signed the agreement with MTC after the contract between the previous operator, Azteca Comunicaciones, and MTC expired.
The construction of the RDNFO was completed in 2016, uniting the country's 22 regional capitals and 180 provincial capitals as part of the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Interconnection System.
The purpose of the change of ownership is to guarantee the continuity of this service and to make better use of the 21 broadband projects being undertaken by Protanel through RDNFO, currently under development, and to connect more than 7,000 rural areas to the internet. pronatel will operate a 13,000 km fibre-optic system for up to three years.
However, the return of assets to the state has not yet occurred. This is related to an inspection carried out last year, which identified a number of issues that had not yet been resolved by Azteca Comunicaciones.
According to TeleGeography, this could be linked to the fact that the network has so far led to a significant drain on government resources, with the government having now spent around US$290 million on the project - almost three times the initial estimate.
The inflexible pricing structure of the network's capacity was highlighted, as well as the fact that the system is underutilised and requires ongoing government funding.
A successful attempt to amend the law relating to the RDNFO in early 2020 led Azteca to propose an early termination of its concession by mutual agreement. In case negotiations do not lead to an agreement: last year, the Ministry unilaterally ordered the cancellation of Azteca's licence with effect from the beginning of 2022.
