Under the new regulation, the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) will absorb the competence of the National Television Agency, which was suppressed by article 39 of the new law. CRC and the Espectrum National Agency will be the authorities in charge to regulate spectrum and television services, among others.
Some of the changes introduced by the law are the following: spectrum license period will be extended from 10 to 20 years, with a possible renewal period of 20 years. This benefit might be requested by current license holders. The request must be done at least 6 months before the license expiration date and it will be resolved considering criteria such as investment plans and expansion of the capacity of the network.
Another change introduced by the law is the change regarding the payment of the fee for spectrum use. Under the new regulation, up to 60% of the fee can be paid by doing certain things previously approved by the ICT Ministry. Telecommunications Network and Service Providers including Television operators must become part of the general habilitation regime.
Finally, the ICT Ministry will be entitled to establish, manage and maintain the use of the internet domain .co which concession is up to expire.
These are just some of the relevant changes introduced by the new legislation. For further information regarding the new obligations and benefits of the law, please do not hesitate to contact us.
