Testifying at a public hearing in the Senate Wednesday, May 7, Communications Minister Miro Teixeira said a forthcoming telecommunications policy document will contain guidelines on unbundling the last mile as well as alternatives for deindexation of fixed-line telephone rates. Resolving the unbundling impasse is key to fostering competition in local fixed-line telephony, he argued.
There was disagreement on the best way to do so, however. Mr Teixeira said he sees technology as the solution, while Pedro Jaime, head of the Communications Ministry's Department of Telecommunications, advocated regulation in the form of a legal obligation for telcos to unbundle.
Mr Teixeira's staff are awaiting his final decision before finalizing the policy proposal. If the option is for a technological solution, the Government will probably focus on incentives for research and development of native technology so as to minimize the cost. According to Pedro Jaime, this approach would avert what happened with WLL, which was once seen as the best solution for the last mile but proved a failure because of implementation cost. The ministry may also adopt a hybrid policy combining technology and regulatory imposition.
Competition
