FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsApp

From July 1, mobile operators will not be able to charge minimum stay clauses in their telecommunications services. The ICT minister, Diego Molano Vega, announced the measure this Wednesday at a press conference.

From now on, operators will not be able to tie their permanence in telecommunications services to the purchase or not of a compatible terminal. Those who have contracts of this type in progress must wait for them to end, but they cannot be renewed.

If a person finances a piece of equipment through an operator, they should receive two separate charges: the one for the financing and the one for the 'plan' of minutes or data. The second may not be tied, in any case, to the first; and the user will be able to give up his 'plan' even when he has outstanding debts for his equipment.

Users with ongoing contracts will need to see how much they have left on their contract, what the discount was given to them at the time of purchase, and how much they will need to pay to get out of that contract.

Operators will no longer be able to tie up their users, but those who have contracts today must comply with them.

According to Molano, the measure seeks to “promote competition and ensure that users are not tied down”, and allow new players to enter the market for the sale of mobile terminals, such as retailers and other importers. The Government and Congress hope that competition and the entry of new players will reduce the prices of both equipment and telecommunications services.

The Bill presented by Congress last year will be shelved, according to Senator Eugenio Prieto at the press conference. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission was already studying the measure since last year.

The measure does not apply to other telecommunications services, such as fixed broadband through fiber optics or ADSL.