A comprehensive regulatory approach to rural telephony in Peru
Rural telephone networks deployed in Peru since 1998 and funded by the universal access fund (Fondo de Inversión en Telecomunicaciones - FITEL) are at a critical moment, facing severe sustainability problems. In response Peru's regulator -OSIPTEL- proposed a system of differentiated interconnection charges, depending on whether the network was urban or rural, and called for a public consultation.
DIRSI through its MARTA program, responded to OSIPTEL with a report prepared by Raul Perez Reyes. In it he suggests that the differentiation of interconnection charges proposed by OSIPTEL should not be made in isolation from other regulatory measures, especially those that should underlie the methodology to regulate the tariffs and charges for access to rural networks. Otherwise, the report argues, OSIPTEL's proposal could cause regulatory and tax problems in the entire telecommunication sector.
This problem was highlighted by the Peruvian regulatory authority OSIPTEL in a report which is the base for the adoption of "General Methodological Principles for Determining Differential Interconnection Charges applicable in Communications with rural areas and places of preferential social interest." This report notes that:
- Traffic patterns (outgoing traffic) in recent years are declining, and the number of rural fixed lines without any traffic is increasing.
- Transmitted traffic levels are lower than the projections made at the time of FITEL's allocation of funding to rural projects.
- A large proportion of the rural tariff for off net communication scenarios is intended to cover the interconnection charges, such as origin or termination on a mobile network, as well as the use of the prepaid platform (for example, in some cases the cost for using the prepaid platform represents more than 50% of the final user tariff).
- There are problems in the distribution of payment cards, which makes the use of public payphones difficult.
For these reasons OSIPTEL published a call for comments for the "Draft Resolution for the Determination of Differential Interconnection Charges" which aims to implement different interconnection charges for rural and urban areas.
DIRSI network, through its program MARTA, responded to OSIPTEL with a report by researcher Raul Perez Reyes. In it he suggests that the differentiation of interconnection charges proposed by OSIPTEL should not be made in isolation from other regulatory measures, especially those that should underlie the methodology to regulate the tariffs and charges for access to rural networks.
The report recommends a regulatory approach to the rate of return, as a way of making the impact of the differentiation of interconnection charges more transparent in the search for solutions to the problem of rural telephony sustainability. It also recommends the imposition of traffic limits by rural operators, as a way to deter the diversion of traffic.
Raúl Pérez-Reyes Espejo, Comentarios al Proyecto de Diferenciación de Cargos de Interconexión con Redes Rurales. Lima: Diálogo Regional sobre la Sociedad de la Información. 2010.
