Chile, Colombia agree to end additional charges for international roaming

This is a machine translation of a press release by Subtel

Santiago, October 23, 2024.

Chile and Colombia have taken a new step to end additional charges for international roaming, a commitment established between Presidents Gabriel Boric and Gustavo Petro in January 2023 in Santiago.

Yesterday, authorities from both governments signed the decision of the Free Trade Commission, which agrees to apply a local rate for mobile phone service for Chilean users entering Colombia, and for Colombians traveling to Chile. Now, telecommunications regulators from both countries will begin work to establish the technical rules for the implementation of this measure, within a period of no more than 12 months.

The Undersecretary of International Economic Relations (Subrei), Claudia Sanhueza, highlighted the work carried out jointly with the teams of the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel), which included a series of biweekly technical meetings throughout 2024 with the Colombian counterparts. “This agreement reinforces Chile's commitment to digital integration and regional connectivity, and directly benefits people who travel between our countries, whether for personal or business reasons,” said the authority.

Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Claudio Araya, commented that one of the priorities of the Government is to strengthen trade relations and collaboration with the region. “In this sense, this agreement is the result of a State policy that mainly seeks to facilitate digital integration, eliminating barriers and thus making it easier for our compatriots who go to Colombia, whether for vacation, work or other reasons, to maintain their connectivity without having to contract plans abroad or change their number. This agreement is added to those made with Brazil and Argentina, and we hope that it will yield the same results as the previous ones.”

Representing Colombia at the signing were the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Luis Reyes; and the Executive Director of the Regulatory Commission, Lina María Duque.

According to data from the Investigative Police, in 2023 almost 157 thousand Chileans traveled to Colombia; while in the same period nearly 167 thousand Colombians entered Chile, who will be able to benefit from this measure once implemented.