Panama: New Tax for Laying Underground Cable

The draft law establishing a fee to cover the costs of underground wiring and infrastructure for telecommunications and pay television, was approved on third reading in the full Legislature.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

From the press release by the National Assembly of Panama:

The draft law establishing a fee to cover the costs of underground wiring and infrastructure for telecommunications and pay television was approved on third reading in the full Legislature.

The document establishes a rate of 0.5% to be applied to customer’s monthly bills for basic telecommunication services, national, international, for personal communications, cellular phone, for telecommunications and pay television transport in order to cover the costs and implementation of laying underground wiring and infrastructure for telecommunications and pay TV.

Services using the prepayment format are excluded from the application of this rate.

The companies with concessions with send funds gathered from the fee every month to a Treasury sub-account from which these amounts will be transferred to a trust account, which will designated for laying underground wiring and infrastructure. The funds will be subject to monitoring and control by the Controller General's Office.

Ricardo Valencia, Deputy Chairman of the Economy and Finance Committee of the Legislature, supported the project in question and stressed that the laying underground cables is essential for the development of this country, not just for aesthetic reasons but also for tourism, having a city where we present ourselves as a colorful tourist town and although there are areas where the underground cables will not be laid, the whole country will benefit from the new image that will be presented internationally.

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More on this topic

Upcoming Tender for Underground Cabling

June 2012

The first works will cover the banking sector of Panama City and will cost $ 33 million.

Once the Authority of Public Services (ASEP) has approved the tender conditions, bids will be invited from national and international companies for the tender to lay underground cables in the first stage comprising of the banking area.

Underground Cables in Panama

February 2012

The project will cost $40 million and will be tendered after approval of a law which establishes the rate to be paid by the users of the involved communications services.

Bill 423 states that users of fixed and mobile telephony, pay view television and internet services will have to pay between 1% and 2% in their monthly bills once the investment plan starts, reported Prensa.com.

Increased Telecommunications Rates in Panama

November 2011

A new rate will be charged to customers of telecommunications services, which will pay for underground wiring works.

The bill approved by the Council of Ministers, which will be presented to the National Assembly, would create a law to establish the rate to be paid by users of telecommunication services (telephone, cable television and internet).

Costa Rican Cable Company to Install Fiber Optics Network

May 2010

CableTica, a local cable company, will install a fiber optics network to provide services to mobile telephony operators and internet television.

Parent company Televisora de Costa Rica S.A. reported they signed a contract with Ericsson to build and operate the network over the next 5 years.

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