The conditions under which telephone company licenses were renewed 10, 15 or 20 years ago will definitely not be the same, since the current context has marked an evolution and this must be considered by different countries, including Ecuador, according to the Latin American Spectrum License Renewal Study. presented by the Inter-American Association of Telecommunications Companies (Asiet).

This report shows that Ecuador “has major challenges in terms of radio spectrum”, Asiet Secretary General Maryleana Méndez pointed out at a telematics meeting attended by representatives of the telecommunications sector from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Brazil on Tuesday, September 19.

The state contract with the telephone company Claro has been extended for another six months

For Ecuador, the executive director of the Association of Telecommunications Companies, Diana Falconí, participated as one of the panelists and indicated that this study comes at an important time for the country as the renewal processes for two private mobile concessions are currently underway. .

“Unfortunately, we could not have time in advance to know what the schedule the regulator will follow, how they will conduct studies for service continuity, spectrum evaluation, what these conditions will govern the concessions,” he said.

According to Falconí, they are now in a “dilemma” where “unfortunately the terms of the current contract had to be extended”, which creates “a lot of legal uncertainty not only for the operators that are here in the country, but also for our neighboring countries as to what will happen in Ecuador.

In August of last year, the government reported that the state’s contract with the company Conecel (Claro) had been extended for six months starting on August 27, and the contract had expired a day earlier. In addition, it is indicated that due to the contract with Otecela (Movistar) expiring on November 30, they are taking steps to extend it.

Méndez indicated that the evolutionary context of the mobile telecommunications business is “very accelerated”, since at a certain point of market opening, telecommunications companies could easily access foreign and domestic capital to develop networks in non-market areas. markets. saturated with the expansion and modernization of fixed and mobile telephony and there was also a positive cash flow. However, these factors will not be repeated in the current context.

The State Attorney’s Office explains that Arcotel can decide to extend the contract with the telephone companies Claro and Movistar

He pointed out that in recent years the development of mobile services in the countries of the region has reached a plateau or marginal growth in return on investment. “Growth and income patterns of the sector will remain at moderate levels of development.”

He also commented that the high valuation of the spectrum happened in very different market conditions and what we now have are economic challenges and low levels of user income and that, despite this, huge investments are needed for the development of new generation and additional operation and maintenance of existing networks.

In this context, he indicated that Latin America is faced with the possibility of defining evaluation parameters that enable the offer of competitive prices and that effectively stimulate the necessary investments for local and international operators.

Arcotel indicates that cell phone service will remain in effect in Ecuador, with no threat of suspension

What is happening in Ecuador and other countries?

According to Méndez, opportunities in Latin America for allocation and renewal processes are:

Regarding the recommendations on renovation valuation, three axes were mentioned: spectrum value definition, updated parameters and valuation techniques.