Ecuador’s Agency for Regulation & Control of Telecommunications (Agencia de Regulacion y Control de las Telecomunicaciones, ARCOTEL) has approved the framework for negotiating the renewal of Claro and Movistar’s mobile concessions which expire in 2023.
The new model establishes guidelines concerning a range of technical and commercial issues, including the fee for the new spectrum licences, the operators’ initial infrastructure deployment obligations, and the regulation of interconnection and network access.
‘The negotiation of the concession contracts will be an important milestone for the government of President Guillermo Lasso, which will guarantee the continuity of mobile services while ensuring digital inclusion, connectivity, innovation, technological development and the provision of high quality services for the benefit of citizens’, highlighted ARCOTEL.
Claro (registered under its former brand name Conecel) and Telefonica-owned Movistar (similarly registered as Otecel) reportedly entered negotiations with the regulator over the new concessions in August last year.
