The initiatives of Competition, Leasing and the reforms to the General Law of Telecoms are some of the projects that the new administration of Giammattei plans to present to the Congress of Guatemala.
During his inaugural speech, the new president of Guatemala gave the first guidelines in the economic field, highlighting which projects should be streamlined in the Legislative.
More competitive prices, broadband expansion and number portability are some of the benefits that are not being taken advantage of in Guatemala because the regulations there have not been modernized.
The regulations in the country have been in force since 1996, and according to representatives from the sectors involved in the activity, they have become obsolete in some aspects, as coverage thereneeds to be improved and frequencies assigned in order to exploit the spectrum to the maximum.
An international process will start in the coming months to pre-qualify companies for the selection of a fourth mobile operator.
In August a tender was launched to hire a company to handle thedesign specifications of the tenderto enable the 900 MHz and 2500 MHz band, which the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) will be holding in the coming months.
Radio frequencies will be awarded taking into consideration not only economic proposals but also communicational proposals.
Amendments to the Telecommunications Act were passed by the Legislative Assembly with the consensus of all sectors involved, according to an article in Elsalvador.com.
"... The amendments include the way the frequencies are assigned being determined by the Management of Telecommunications at the Siget, taking into account the target audience and the sector that is looking for a frequency in the radio spectrum, explained the people who were involved in the work on the amendments. For example, one of the new mechanisms involves the competition, which will bring to the foreground, not the economic capacity of the medium, but the communicational proposal presented and its attraction to the target audience. "
Government control over the allocation of concessions and the lack of antitrust rules have set alarm bells ringing for companies in the sector.
The Legislature will have only the three months granted by the Constitutional Court, from now, in order to make amendments to the Law on Telecommunications (LT).
Meanwhile, the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES) studied the Draft Law on Community Broadcasting of the Legislative Assembly and the draft Law on Public Media submitted by former President Mauricio Funes, September 19 2013, both are projects which come under the Telecommunications Law.
A ruling by the Administrative Court found in favor of the state run telecoms company and obliges the regulator to update the relevant market data and level the playing field for all operators.
In the lawsuit, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) argued that the failure to update data on relevant markets and operators prevented the Superintendency of Telecommunications from providing equal treatment to all telecommunications companies operating in the country. Because of this, Crhoy.com reports, "... only the ICE can be fined or receive penalties for noncompliance."
A ruling by the Constitutional Court has declared unconstitutional the failure to regulate alternative auction mechanisms to allocate radio spectrum and is forcing Congress to include it in a bill before the end of the year.
With this ruling the radio spectrum can no longer be allocated only through auction, alternative media must be used, which must be incorporated into the Telecommunications Act before December 31, 2015, says a ruling from the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court.
A proposal has been made to draft a new telecommunications bill from scratch, completely leaving out the concepts of state control that the current proposal contains.
In the view of the private sector, the way the "Law on broadband" bill is drafted is not clear and leaves open the possibility for the State to exercise excessive control over internet access in the country.
The essential modernization of technical and administrative rules governing the sector is being hampered by the proposed inclusion of rules to control content.
EDITORIAL
The vaudeville act (from the Royal Spanish Academy: frivolous, light and spicy comedy based around intrigue and misunderstandings) presented and represented by the government of Costa Rica, regarding the development and "socialization" of the proposed new Telecommunications Act , has produced as its first result t a leaderless Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (Micitt).
While operators claim for effective competition on the market, the Telecommunications Authority has become a thorn in the side of the telcoms companies.
In the steps undertaken by Holst Van Patten S. A. for the acquisition of satellite internet services, the Telecommunications Superintendency (Sutel) asked the company to request an authorization for a merger and then retracted it clarifying that it would not go ahead.
Operators of the telecommunications market in Costa Rica are calling for intervention by the regulator in rates to be removed and for operations to be carried out within a framework of real commercial freedom.
After more than six years of having promoted laws which opened up the telecommunications market in Costa Rica, no operator has the ability to unilaterally set final prices or manipulate conditions in the telecommunications market.
The industry is calling for effective competition to be allowed with the market setting rates and not the Telecommunications Regulator.
Operators of telephony and internet services are asking for the establishment of maximum rates by the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel) to be eliminated, applying what is contemplated in the Telecommunications Act, which allows the possibility of not intervening in the setting of rates.
The private sector is warning that the new law contains technical deficiencies and could harm free competition by creating different conditions for companies in the sector.
The Union of Cable Television Operators is opposing the rapid adoption of the Law on Control of Mobile Telecommunications in Prison Centers, because of a lack of consensus and consultation with the sector, the fact that it contains technical and legal gaps and could harm domestic firms through the generation of privileges and monopolies under the rule .
With its entry into force in late November, both the regulator as well as telephone companies predict fierce competition because of attempts to retain and attract customers.
"This law promotes stronger dynamism in the market and gives the user the power to negotiate what suits them. It requires companies to provide more service. It is a climate of true market competition," said Eduardo Castellon spokesman for the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel).
The company has two months to submit a new plan to the Executive on the integration of corporate governance and the search for a new strategic partner.
So ordered the Minister of the Presidency, María Antonieta Guillén. This comes after the granting of an extension to the term of the commission set up by the Honduran Telecommunications Company (Hondutel).
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