Bitel in Peru

The numbers on this page come from OSIPTEL, Peru’s telecoms regulator, from Bitel’s own pages and from press reports, each with its date.

A network from Vietnam

Bitel belongs to Viettel, the Vietnamese telecoms group, and the company that runs it is Viettel Perú S.A.C. Viettel Global, a member of the group, runs its projects abroad. Bitel began operating at the end of July 2014, as OSIPTEL confirmed at the time. It had promised the Peruvian state 15,000 working lines by 26 July 2014, and by 10 July it was running in Lima, Ica, Trujillo and Tumbes. VietNamNet reported in October 2014 that Bitel’s 3G reached nearly 80% of Peru’s population.

How many lines does Bitel carry?

OSIPTEL put Bitel at 24.68% of the 39.64 million lines with traffic in the three months to June 2026. In March 2026 the figure was 24.01%, and only Claro, at 33.39% in June, carried more. Number porting went the other way in September 2026: Bitel lost 130,782 lines to other operators and received 110,401, a net loss of 20,381.

On OSIPTEL’s 4G quality index for August 2026, Bitel scored 79.32%. The index combines download and upload speeds, latency, packet loss and time on 4G.

When did Bitel’s 4G and 5G start?

Bitel opened with 3G. Its 4G came later than planned, on 16 December 2016, with 1,750 base stations covering 500 populated centres.

Bitel presented its 5G network at a gala in Lima that marked its tenth anniversary, with the president of Viettel Group present. ZTE dated its release on the event 20 January 2025. In the 2025 auction Viettel Perú S.A.C. won 100 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band.

Bitel’s 5G map shows two layers: a guaranteed coverage area and an area of extra network capacity. You can search it by department, province, district and populated centre, and Bitel calls the map a reference.

Rural roads in the auction duties

Bitel took on more rural localities in the 2025 auction than any of the other three operators. Viettel Perú committed to bring 4G to 658 rural localities and along 615 km of road corridors, against 416 to 445 localities for each of the others. It also took on 5G service for 51 level III hospitals, 49 national universities and 1,056 schools. All the 4G duties fall due within four years of the contract.

eSIM and phones on Bitel

Bitel sells eSIM in its own stores. Staff give you a QR code, you scan it from the phone’s settings and wait for the confirmation message. A customer can also swap a physical SIM for an eSIM in a Bitel store, and Bitel’s page lets you check whether a Samsung or Apple phone takes eSIM.

A phone bought outside Peru can be blocked on a Peruvian line unless it is on the Renteseg whitelist. OSIPTEL’s guidance of 31 August 2026 says you register it at your operator’s service centre, at no cost, by showing the phone and your identity document.

Install the eSIMSwitch it on after landingNo connection