How Paraguay's telecom regulator is connecting the unconnected

The Paraguayan government has set its sights on expanding fixed and mobile broadband services throughout the country, particularly in areas far from urban centers.

The national telecommunications plan, covering the period until 2025, approved last year, outlined various unfulfilled goals and focused on new targets with the longer-term aim of connecting at least 80% of the population by 2030.

Telecommunications regulator Conatel has a key role in carrying out the plan, subsidizing the infrastructure works for the installation of base stations that allow communities in different areas to access internet, mobile telephony and data transmission services, among various other tasks.

The works will be complemented by the social commitments that the operators assumed in the spectrum auctions for mobile telephony, which include deployment of infrastructure in regions without coverage, in order to meet the aims of the government of President Mario Abdo Benítez.

In this interview, Conatel president Juan Carlos Duarte Duré tells BNamericas about the main tenets of the plan for this year and how Paraguay is preparing for a 5G spectrum auction in 2023.

BNamericas: Last year the national telecommunications plan [PNT] was approved with the goal of reaching 80% of the population with broadband in 2030. What progress has been made so far?

Duarte Duré: The goal established in the PNT 2021-2025 is that, by 2025, 50% of households will have access to fixed broadband internet and that 65% of the population will have mobile broadband.

To meet these objectives, Conatel is carrying out the actions established in the PNT, particularly those that are related to the terms and the amounts that have to be paid in rights, to use them for the needs of our market.

BNamericas: 5G hasn't appeared to be a priority for Paraguay so far, so when do you expect the new mobile technology to be available?

Duarte Duré: All technological development is a priority for Paraguay. 4G technology is currently in full expansion, with deployment continuing at the national level despite the pandemic, in compliance with the conditions established at the time the licenses were granted.

With regard to 5G, Conatel has updated the national frequency allocation plan in accordance with technological development and the radio regulations of the International Telecommunication Union [ITU], of which we are a member of the board. Therefore, the evolution of this new mobile technology is being followed and it's expected that it will be available in 2024.

BNamericas: Do you plan to hold spectrum auctions this year?

Duarte Duré: Licenses were recently granted for the operation of the broadcasting service and another tender is underway for granting licenses for the television service for the ISDB-TB digital TV system, where the opening of offers should be carried out in April.

As for the spectrum auctions for mobile telephony services and internet access and data transmission, they would be carried out in 2023 for 5G technology.

BNamericas: What other policies are you pursuing to encourage the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure?

Duarte Duré: To promote the deployment of infrastructure we have the universal services fund (FSU), which is aimed at subsidizing telecommunications service providers in areas that justify it.

Thus, the tariffs for the use of the radioelectric spectrum in the infrastructure expansion projects subsidized by the FSU in the western region of Paraguay have also been reduced.