Regulation and Investment in Telecommunications: Bolivia Case Study
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The perception of Bolivia's regulatory environment ranges from ineffecient in certain areas to neutral in others. The assessment shows that the regulatory environment has not demonstrated the necessary capacity to bring about an attractive investment environment, a result of the country's perceived high level of regulatory risk. The current political and economic situation is also important as it has a direct influence on investments in the sector.
Original Title: Regulación e Inversión en Telecomunicaciones. Estudio de Caso para Bolivia
Abstract
This document presents an application of the methodology proposed by Samarajiva et al. (2005) and implemented by LIRNEasia to assess the impact of the Telecommunications Regulatory Environment (TRE) on the level of investments in the sector. It includes an analysis of the sectors' performance in the six dimensions described by the TRE methodology:
Market entry,
- Access to scarce resources,
- Interconnection,
- Tariff regulation,
- Regulation of anti-competitive practices,
- Universal service obligations (USO).
The applied methodology is based upon the perceptions of key actors from the private sector, consumers' associations and the Academia. From July 2006 to July 2007, ninety one experts in the sector provided their percpeptions to assess the TRE in Bolivia.
Findings show that the perception of the TRE in Bolivia ranges from inefficient in certain dimensions to neutral in others. In general, the TRE of mobile telephony is perceived more positively than the one of fixed telephony in all assessed dimensions. For both services, the less efficient dimension was USO, while interconnection was considered one of the most efficient.
The current political and economic situation is also important as it has a direct influence on the regulatory and legal systems and can determine the loss of credibility of operators and increase the country's perceived high level of regulatory risk.
