Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) has drafted new regulations on spectrum refarming to improve competition and penetration in the market.
Spectrum refarming involves changing the organisation of airwaves so that they can be used more efficiently. A statement from the Ministry deemed refarming “the central axis of any real spectrum policy” and noted that it aimed to promote “the assignment or reordering of frequencies to encourage competition and the greatest social and economic benefit”.
Expanding on this, the MTC observed that the proposals would boost the value of spectrum allocations for consumers – for example if certain frequencies were found to be of a higher value following the refarming process, the licence terms would be updated so that licensees were obliged to expand coverage further into areas “lacking in service or with little coverage”.
Additionally, the ministry noted that reorganisation would be aimed at facilitating the rollout of more modern and efficient internet access technologies to help move Peru towards UN development goals. MTC called for a “healthy transparency policy” based on “objective criteria and predictable methodology”.
Companies and end-users have been invited to offer their views on the proposals, with the consultation open until the end of August. Peru has four main operators: America Movil’s Claro, Viettel’s Bitel, Entel, and Telefonica’s Movistar.
