Colombia govt determined to push through ICT reform bill
Colombia's ICT minister Sylvia Constaín (pictured) has sought to calm fears and clarify doubts about the proposed reform of ICT legislation, in particular regarding the cost of spectrum and concerns that the budget for funding public TV content will be slashed.
The ICT reform bill (law 152/1801) was proposed by President Iván Duque in September. Since then debate has honed in on a proposal to merge the telecoms watchdog CRC and TV regulator ANTV creating a single universal services fund for both industries called Fontic.
Public broadcasters have said they are worried that funding for public TV content would be diluted under a single ICT fund.
In a public hearing, Constaín said that under the Fontic fund, public TV would retain the same maximum levels of funding seen since the creation of the current public TV fund FonTV, adjusted to inflation.
"Public television and radio are fundamental elements in a democracy and we are committed to defending and strengthening them," Constaín was quoted as saying in a tweet.
That said, the minister underscored that advertising revenue in public TV was falling and had grown only 2% from 2009-2016, while advertising in digital media had grown 34% over the same period.
In addition, new pay TV subscribers grew only 2.5% in 2017 compared to 10% in 2011 meaning lower income for FonTV over that period.
Combining the two funds would provide incentives for investment in digital content, available on multiple platforms that will have a broader appeal, the minister said.
In a statement Mintic said that Colombia was falling behind countries like Chile, Mexico and Argentina in the penetration of mobile broadband because those countries had implemented institutional changes at the regulatory level, reducing the regulatory requirements and giving them greater independence.
The minister said Colombia still has low penetration of communications services with fixed broadband penetration of 12.8% and pay TV penetration of 11.3%.
REGULATORY INDEPENDENCE
The minister reiterated the importance of modernizing legislation to adapt to the requirements of the current digital environment and streamlining the resources. This involves ensuring the ICT sector regulator CRC has administrative, budgetary and judicial independence.
Constaín added that the bill does not seek to censor or control TV content, an apparent concern, but seeks pluralism of content.
"The ICT modernization law does not put at risk the autonomy of the media, on the contrary it will guarantee that content reaches more Colombians," Constaín said in a tweet.
SPECTRUM
In terms of spectrum, she said the length of licenses would increase to 30 years through the bill to encourage more investment in last mile infrastructure, which is seen as key to connecting and boosting the rural economy and provide more legal certainty.
She said that Colombia had fallen from being one of the countries with most spectrum assigned, some five years ago to eighth in the region behind Venezuela.
While the minister said the government was "not going to give away spectrum for free", it was not going to view spectrum as an easy way to fill state coffers by charging exorbitant prices as has happened in the past, Constaín said.
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