Colombia. For the first time, the CRC publishes figures that account for the total annual investment of operators, investment in spectrum and investment by public entities, in expanding coverage and maintaining and improving the quality of telecommunications services.
"For the Commission it is an achievement to be able to present to the sector the first report of the figures of investment in telecommunications in the country, the result of a process of information collection and construction of data that began in April 2020 with the publication of the diagnostic document in which we define the sources of information and the variables to be studied." Sergio Martínez Medina, Commissioner and Executive Director of the CRC, explained.
The publication of these data are the result of a year of analysis of the Telecommunications Investment Observatory created by the Commission given the need to know and analyze the investment figures, identify their determining factors and their relationship with regulatory decisions, public policy or external situations that may affect it, these figures will be input for the preparation of studies and will facilitate regulatory and public policy decision-making.
According to the analysis of the figures, in the period 2017 – 2019 the Telecommunications Network and Service Providers (PRST) invested together each year between 4.2 and 6.0 trillion pesos, which translates into an average growth rate in each year of 18.3%, compared to inflation of 3.5% and GDP growth at current pesos of 7.4% on average for each year.
Additionally, there was an increase in the portion of the operating income of the PRST destined for investment in 2019, between 22% and 25%, for the four (4) largest PRST. In aggregate terms and in relation to what was found for other countries, during 2018, it could be concluded that the telecommunications sector invested 22.6% of the revenues received, a proportion that was above both the average of the countries of the Euro Zone (18.4%) and the average of the OECD countries (15.7%).
The annual values of investment in the telecommunications sector in Colombia are close to those observed in countries such as Chile and Norway, while the average investment as a percentage of income from the sector is similar to that observed in developed economies such as Belgium and Canada. However, for this ratio of investment to income there is a gap compared to countries such as Norway, New Zealand and Sweden, which invest more than 30% of the income of the sector.
"We hope that public and private entities, academia and organizations can take advantage of this important information that will undoubtedly be an input of great value for the generation of studies, as well as new regulatory measures and public policies that respond to the needs of the sector." Sergio Martínez Medina, Commissioner and Executive Director of the CRC, explained.
