Colombia. The Sixth Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives approved this Thursday in the first debate, the Bill for the Modernization of the ICT Sector, which is part of the economic reactivation package of the National Government, and with which it seeks to create the conditions for the effective closure of the digital divide in the country.
The bill, which will now be debated in the plenary sessions of the Senate and House, seeks to make Colombia a more attractive country for investment, reactivate the ICT sector industry – which has been slowing down – and generate quality employment. In this way, it will be possible to take the technology to all corners of the country, especially to rural areas and more remote from the national territory.
"This is a bill that positively impacts all Colombians and will allow us to reach all regions by improving connectivity. This is not a bill with any political overtones, the only thing it seeks is to modernize the ICT sector, "said the Minister of Information and Communications Technologies, Sylvia Constaín, after indicating that this article has been widely socialized and discussed with the different sectors, which allowed to enrich the text that was approved today.
What is the Modernization Project?
The bill was filed on September 19 of this year, before the General Secretariat of the Senate of the Republic. This initiative is framed in the first pillar of the 2018-2022 policy 'The digital future belongs to everyone', which seeks to create an ICT environment so that digital development reaches all Colombians.
This Bill will put the institutionality and regulation of the sector in the international standard, in order to energize the ICT industry; in this way, a marriage between the public and private sector will be consolidated that will have a single objective: to connect all Colombians and connect them well. That is, the conditions will be created for investment to increase and for it to be reflected in the closing of digital gaps, focusing on the low-income population and rural areas.
The bill updates Law 1341 of 2009 and its first objective is to increase legal certainty. For this, the allocation of the radio spectrum will be headed by the ICT Ministry, always privileging quality and coverage to maximize the social welfare of the entire population. In addition, it is intended to extend the period of permits for the use of spectrum. Thus, the conditions will be generated to boost last mile connections in the most remote areas of the country and reactivate the economy.
In addition, a single rate of consideration will be defined for operators, which balances the burdens, resolves the differences that have kept investment in the sector stagnant and encourages competition. With this, the efficiency in the payment will be increased and the use of these resources will be optimized, always looking for the sustainability of the different initiatives.
Increased investment
Another objective is to focus investments for the effective closing of the digital divide, which includes connecting all Colombians and promoting technological appropriation, especially in indigenous, Afro-Colombian, Raizales, Palenqueras and Rrom communities, in addition to people with physical limitations. To this end, the creation of a Single Fund is proposed, bringing together the resources of FonTIC and FonTV. This will generate incentives to link the private and public sector in general in their investment initiatives.
The project makes it clear that the strengthening of public television and radio will be guaranteed, as well as public audiovisual content of a national and regional nature, since the resources that have historically been allocated to this area will be maintained with an annual increase.
Likewise, additional resources will be allocated for the generation of multiplatform content of public interest, thanks to the focus of government investments on the low-income and rural population, with emphasis on public schools in remote areas of the country.
The last objective is institutional simplification and modernization. To this end, the creation of a single and independent regulator for the entire ICT sector is proposed, which includes telecommunications, television, Internet and sound broadcasting services. Likewise, it seeks that the ICT Ministry unify all the tasks of surveillance and control of the operators of these services. Thus, the powers currently held by the National Television Authority (ANTV) will be redistributed. The National Spectrum Agency (ANE) will not have any changes in its functions.
A fully connected country and a dynamic ICT industry will be reflected in an increase in productivity and competitiveness in the regions, a decrease in inequality and an increase in employment, which will definitely contribute to the economic reactivation of the country.
