Colombia: ip telephony and the Internet
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- 1Introduction
- 2The Internet in Colombia
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Colombia: IP Telephony and the Internet This case study was prepared by Gustavo Peña-Quiñones <gpenaq@col1.telecom.com.co>, with the assistance of Agustina Guerrero, <agustina@baedigital.com.ar>. “Colombia: IP Telephony and the Internet” forms part of a series of telecommunication case studies produced under the New Initiatives Programme of the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The Telecommunication Case Studies Project is being carried out under the direction of Dr Ben A. Petrazzini <Ben.Petrazzini@itu.int>, Telecommunication Policy Adviser in the Strategies and Policy Unit, ITU. Other case studies – including studies on IP Telephony in China, Peru and Thailand – may be found at the webpage Contents 1 Introduction 5 2 The Internet in Colombia 5 3 Profile of the Internet market 9 4 Legislation and regulations related to the Internet 11 5 IP telephony in Colombia 13 6 Legal aspects of Internet voice service 13 6.1 Long-distance operators and value-added operators 14 6.2 The case of Comcel 17 , and 19 7 Conclusion 22 Figures Figure 1: Connection to Bitnet 7 7
Figure 2: Internet connections in 1999 with NAPs. 8 Figure 3: Telecom’s Internet network 12 Figure 3: What Colombians do on the Internet 12 Figure 4: Bypassing the incumbents 18 Tables Table 1: Defining Telecommunication Services 15 Table 2: Telecommunications objectives for Colombia: 1998 to 2002 3 Table 3: Telecommunication service prices in Colombia 6 Table 4: Licences and income for services in 1997 7 Boxes Box 1: Market leaders 10 Box 2: Changing the rules of the game 13 Box 3: Setting boundaries 18 Box 4: Convergence in action 21 Box 5: Enforcing the law 23
1IntroductionIn Colombia, the entire telecommunication sector operates in a competitive environment. There are more than 50 operators providing basic local telephone service, four cellular telephone operators, and over a 100 value-added operators. Although the first liberalization provisions were put in place in the early 1990s, it took more than seven years to open up long-distance service to competition, and during that time the process was subject to various pressures from the main players involved. In December 1998, Colombia became the first country in Latin America1 to offer long-distance service from mobile telephones using Internet technology. The key factors in the emergence of this service were the steep advances in IP technology, the bold commercial moves on the part of one cellular company and an apparent lack of clear regulations governing cellular and Internet telephony. The process gave rise to three investigations by telecommunication regulatory and oversight bodies and a great upheaval in the sector. Three operators participated in providing this service, two from their cellular networks and one value-added operator that completed the link. After nearly nine months of operation, the service was suspended at the initiative of the value-added operator. The authorities have just wound up two of the three investigations. In the first of these cases, the penalty imposed on each of the two cellular operators and the value added operator was a fine (1’000 times the monthly minimum wage, an amount equivalent to approximately US$ 140’000), and in the second, a fine was imposed while the long distance operators were given 15 days to present a claim for the damages generated by the conduct of the IP telephony service provider. The prosecution of the cellular and value added companies for providing IP telephony services over their networks is one of a number of actions brought by the national administration to deter the diffusion of illegal or unauthorised IP telephony services in the country. In the second half of 1999, in response to complaints by long-distance operators, and on the basis of allegations to the effect that unauthorized international voice transmission services were being provided by some operators, the judicial authorities conducted inspections of the head offices of more than 20 operators legally established to provide value-added services. Some of the operators were closed down and charges were made; these cases have not yet been resolved. Recently, however, judicial authorities issued detention orders for the general managers or presidents of most of those companies. In these circumstances, the agencies responsible for regulating telecommunications in Colombia are facing the challenges posed by globalisation and convergence, as well as facing the task of promoting the development of the Internet as laid down in the National Development Plan.2 These agencies are being called upon to resolve the delicate conflicts that have arisen as a result of operators with value-added licences offering IP telephony services.
Thanks to a joint effort by several universities, with support from Panamsat5 and assistance from ICFES and Colciencias [the Science Council of Colombia], an Internet connection was established in May 1994 for the node of the University of the Andes Computing Centre6. Initially, this provided direct access for the entire Andes academic community. Access was gradually extended to the general public, free of charge, and the number of users eventually totalled more than a thousand. Subsequently, this venture became CETCOL [Colombian Science, Education and Technology]; it used the network known as INTERED and opened as a fee-paying service available to the general public7. For its part, the University of the Andes succeeded in being assigned responsibility for administering the <.co> domain and the Class B address in 1991. Initially, the spread of the Internet was a great concern for Telecom, since Telecom’s commercial arm assumed that the Internet would lead to a reduction in the use of the X.25 data network. Nevertheless, in 1994, Telecom connected itself to the Internet to provide an internal service for consultation by its staff, at speeds of 9 600 bits/s. Soon after, this connection was opened to the general public and a special service was set up called SAITEL (Servicio de Acceso a Internet de Telecom [Telecom Internet Access Service]).8 This was the first commercial Internet service provider (ISP) available to the general public in Colombia. Figure 1: Connection to Bitnet 
Source: Prepared by the author on the basis of interviews. University of the Andes academic community. Access was gradually extended to the general public, free of charge, and the number of users eventually totalled more than a thousand. Subsequently this venture became CETCOL [Colombian Science, Education and Technology]; it used the network known as INTERED and opened as a fee-paying service available to the general public1. For its part, the University of the Andes succeeded in being assigned responsibility for administering the <.co> domain and the Class B address in 1991. The Internet’s arrival service Figure 2: Internet connections in 1999 with NAPs. 
Source: CRT. Proposals for the Internet access rate scheme, 24 January 2000. With the coming of the World Wide Web in 1994, new ISPs emerged, among them IMSAT, CABLENET and COLOMSAT, and started offering Internet connections on a regular commercial basis. In a market entirely open to competition and free from regulatory restrictions, these firms started offering a wide variety of services with different tarrif plans. At about the same time, in November 1993, the Cámara Colombiana de Informática y Telecomunicaciones [Colombian Information Technology and Telecommunications Association] (CCIT) was established as a trade organization bringing together major private telecommunication and information-technology companies in the country. As of the beginning of 2000, CCIT had flourished with 38 affiliated companies, including telecommunication service operators as well as equipment and technology suppliers and consulting firms. Among its services, CCIT offers an up-to-date information service on rules and regulations governing this field, on the nationwide infrastructure, and on the equipment suppliers operating in the country. The emergence of CCIT generated certain other major initiatives in the sector, such as the establishment in early 1999 of the first Network Access Point (NAP)9 in Colombia (see Figure 2), bringing together the country’s largest Internet service providers.10 The purpose of the NAP is to channel and route communications exchanged between users on the various Internet access networks.11 Since it was implemented, it has offered equal conditions and opportunities to all operators linked to the NAP and information concerning traffic volume, speed, traffic ratio, utilization time, degree of congestion and other operational matters. Directory: osg -> spu spu -> Riefing Paper spu -> 3g mobile Policy: The Case of Sweden spu -> The case of ghana spu -> Contents : Introduction Part a the themes spu -> 3g mobile Licensing Policy spu -> Telecom network migration to ip and its impact on the future of telecommunications spu -> Itu workshop on creating trust in critical network infrastructures spu -> Nternational spu -> Peru: ip telephony and the Internet Download 193.84 Kb. Share with your friends:
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