IBTimes.com

China Tel will be putting $62 million into selling internet protocol telephony in Peru, via its subsidiary Perusat.

The new network will be a WiMAX service, similar to those being built in the U.S. by companies such as Clearstream. By building a wireless network, the company hopes to keep the costs of bringing broadband to the country down.

The first part of this project will begin around August 2011 and cover the provinces of Trujillo, Chiclayo Chimbote. In the south, the system will be installed in Ica, Arequipa and Cusco and in the center of the country in Huanuco.

Ryan Alvarez, vice president of strategic planning, said China Tel has made use of a combination of wireless technology and being "agnostic" about the type of network it builds in order to keep from having to go into heavy debt. He noted that while the company has a small credit facility, it never needed to take out hundreds of millions to build fiber networks.

It has also made use of acquisitions and joint ventures as a way to secure licenses. In Peru, China Tel bought 95% of Perusat, which holds a set of 2.5 GHz licenses in the country. In addition the company is looking at acquisitions in Argentina, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean.

But as its name implies, much of the company's focus is in China. It is one of the only providers in mainland china focused on wireless broadband, and has plans to build out several cities by the middle of 2011.

Alvarez said one reason for the focus on the developing world is that it is where the need is. "We're trying to stop people from having to go to Internet cafes," he said. "Even the countries not yet in the EU have to build up their infrastructure."

He added that while the focus has been wireless broadband, the company has been open to joint ventures using other technologies. In China, for example, it will control some 34,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable via shareholder agreements with Shanghai Ying Yue Network Technology Ltd. and Azur Capital.

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