The general secretary of the organization analyzes the elimination of postpaid international roaming between Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
By Jorge Hernando Pedraza *
The Andean Community, made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, will reach a new milestone in its history on January 1, 2022. Thanks to the joint work of its member countries and the institutional strength that it has had for more than 52 years, the citizens of the CAN will not have to pay any additional surcharge for post-paid international roaming and will be able to be more and better communicated.
Decision 854, which is a supranational standard that was approved on February 19, 2020, will allow the same conditions or rate plans to be applied as the country of origin for voice, SMS and data services.
This great news with which we begin the new year will benefit the more than 111 million inhabitants of the region, it will contribute to closing the digital divide efficiently and effectively, but above all it will strengthen the Andean Digital Agenda, which is currently promoted by the General Secretariat jointly with the Governments of the CAN.
In this sense, as head of the organization I express my gratitude to the Andean presidents: Luis Arce, from Bolivia; Iván Duque, from Colombia; Guillermo Lasso, from Ecuador, who holds the pro tempore presidency of the integration process; and Pedro Castillo, from Peru, for his firm commitment to our institution and his permanent accompaniment to the actions that are promoted to improve the quality of life of citizens.
Likewise, my appreciation to the work teams of the countries and the General Secretariat that participated during the process of design, analysis and discussion for the elaboration of the standard, and my gratitude to the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) for their support to carry out the baseline study and the cooperation necessary to materialize this regional project.
In this way, with the elimination of harmful international roaming charges – which I am sure will have a substantial impact on the pockets of Bolivians, Colombians, Ecuadorians and Peruvians – we continue to advance along the path of integration as the most solid organization in Latin America. .
To this great achievement I allow myself to add others achieved since 2019, when I began my term as Secretary General, such as the Andean Migration Statute, the norm that facilitates the circulation of vehicles for private use by tourists in the four countries; the Andean Environmental Charter, the joint plan to prevent the spread of the Fusarium R4T plague (which attacks bananas), within which we have been negotiating cooperation to have a Regional Center for Phytosanitary Intelligence; and, thanks to the support of the CAF, we will soon launch the Intercom project, which seeks to facilitate and digitize intra-community foreign trade.
Today, the Andean Community is revitalized and has acquired a leading role in the world with dynamism and modernity, and is increasingly close to the citizen. (or)
* Secretary General of the Andean Community
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