Iquitos Gets High Speed Internet

Resource:  Peru This Week

By Hannah Vickers

The jungle city has had 11 new antennas installed, giving it an internet connection that’s 10 times faster.

Residents of the jungle city Iquitos now enjoy an internet service that’s 10 times faster, thanks to 11 new antennas in the area, reports El Comercio.

The new service was officially launched today with a ceremony. Regional president of Loreto, Yván Vásquez Valera thinks that the service will make a big difference to the city that’s not accessible by road. “It’s the first time that Iquitos will stop being isolated,” he said at the ceremony.

President Ollanta Humala promises that the new higher velocity internet will bring more investments to the city. The new bandwidth is the result of a S/. 180 million investment from Peruvian telephone company, Telefónica del Perú.

Despite being the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest and fifth largest city in Peru, the location and difficulty of access can make Iquitos somewhat isolated. The rubber boom of the early 20th century caused a huge influx of people to the city, which also brought wealth and social development.

Now, Iquitos is a popular tourist destination and many tourists’ first stop when visiting the Peruvian amazon. Iquitos is only accessible by plane or boat, so visits to the capital of the Loreto region have to be more carefully planned.