Colombia. The National Television Authority, ANTV, led by Ángela María Mora Soto, participated in the Asotic Forum 2017, panel "Convergent regulation and the inclusion of new agents in the TV market", where the commissioner of the CRC (Communications Regulation Commission), Gabriel Vaca participated and which was moderated by Juan Andrés Carreño, former director of the National Television Commission.
In the first instance, the Minister of ICT, David Luna Sánchez, presented to the audience the draft of the new regime of consideration for the subscription television service, and stressed that in addition to having done the task, they have listened to the actors of the sector and in that sense, because according to him, the new regime will make regulatory burdens more flexible and reduce asymmetries between operators, due to the decrease in barriers to entry.
Likewise, he pointed out that it will allow greater coverage and encourage competition in the most remote municipalities of the country, since it creates incentives for new operators to arrive in areas of less than 100,000 inhabitants and their inhabitants have better conditions of service.
In turn, the Director of the Entity highlighted the benefits that the regulatory project of the regime of consideration of the subscription television service will grant to all Colombians and called on all community television operators to normalize the service by taking advantage of this new regulatory framework.
The second topic addressed during the discussion was the hypothetical future creation of a single convergent regulatory body to control audiovisual content, spectrum and telecommunications in Colombia. In turn, Mora Soto indicated that "from the ANTV we are convinced that there must be a single regulator, but without sanctioning powers."
To conclude, the panelists reflected on the panorama of Over The Top (OTT) services throughout the country, analyzing their status in the Colombian regulatory framework and the impact it generates on the national economy.
