Chile's smartphone labeling law goes into effect

New legislation came into force in Chile on Monday requiring that all mobile phones sold by telecom operators be clearly labeled with the compatible bands.

The legislation comes in response to complaints made last year by newcomer WOM, alleging that competitors were tampering with phones and disabling the AWS band (1.7-2.1GHz) – on which its network offers 4G services – to discourage users from porting to WOM.

Telecom watchdog Subtel approved a regulation requiring all phones sold by operators to be labeled as 2G, 3G and 4G compatible; only phones carrying all three 4G bands (AWS, 2.6GHz and 700MHz) can be labeled as 4G compatible. The norm as yet does not apply to retailers.

In a statement, Subtel head Rodrigo Ramírez said that the addition of the labels should not result in a price increase of the devices.

In addition, all new mobile phones imported into Chile have to be compatible with the national emergency alert system.

Ramírez said that the watchdog will also introduce a database of stolen or lost phones with the objective of clamping down on fraud and crime.