Chile proposes revamped telecoms framework to streamline permitting

Chilean regulator Subtel will present a proposal to update the country’s general telecoms framework, aiming to streamline and expedite permitting processes, among other measures.

Subtel chief Claudio Araya announced this week in a senate committee that a bill is expected to be formally submitted to the upper house of congress for appraisal in September.

Chile has introduced a series of flexibilities and measures to improve the business environment in recent years, but the 1982 general telecoms legislation is still considered largely rigid.

The steps for authorizing projects in the sector, from antennas to datacenters, tend to be rigorous and lengthy, as various market sources have noted in recent months.

To address these concerns, the regulator plans to reform the authorization regime as part of the framework update.

The current regime "stems from a total lack of trust. Today, no cable can be installed in the country without prior authorization, and that discourages the growth of networks," Araya was reported as saying in the senate by daily La Tercera.

The proposed reform would allow certain installations to proceed without prior authorization, provided the interested company submits a technical project. Regulatory verification of compliance with laws and the submitted project would occur afterward.

The delay in obtaining permits and the varying requirements for these authorizations have often been cited by operator WOM, currently in judicial recovery, as reasons for delays in meeting its network coverage commitments.

Another objective of the framework update is to adapt the country’s telecommunications regulations – created when fixed telephony was still a significant service for users – for technological convergence and the evolution of new technologies.

In Subtel’s view, while laws and regulations approved in recent years for the sector are important, such as those enabling the combined offer of different types of services by a single concessionaire and, more recently, the declaration of the internet as a public service, they remain insufficient.