GSMA proposes regulatory reforms to modernise Chile’s digital ecosystem

November 23, 2017

New Report Outlines Key Recommendations for the Digital Agenda of the Next Chilean President, Focuses on Helping Chile Maximise the Benefits of the New Digital Economy and Maintain Regional Leadership

Santiago, Chile: The GSMA today published a new report, ‘ Keys to the Modernisation of Digital Ecosystem Regulation in Chile ’, which outlines the impact of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ and digital economy on current regulation, which is becoming increasingly obsolete. The study presents a series of recommendations for the digital agenda of Chile’s next president, emphasising the need to create a competitive digital environment that maximises innovation and investment and generates the greatest possible benefit for Chilean consumers and companies.

“The institutional framework that regulates ICT must be reviewed urgently if Chile intends to maintain its regional leadership indicators,” said Sebastian Cabello, Head of Latin America, GSMA. “For example, a body empowered to act across the digital ecosystem will need to be created to address the dynamism of the current market and find effective solutions for the cross-cutting nature of digital issues that are currently addressed piecemeal by various government agencies.”

In the report published today, the GSMA made five key recommendations to modernise and update Chile’s regulatory framework:

• Improve coverage by removing barriers to infrastructure deployment;
• Level the playing field by reducing regulatory burdens on existing services;
• Enhance the user experience by encouraging competition in quality of service;
• Optimise the use of radio spectrum, a key input for the industry and in particular for the development of the Internet of Things; and
• Create an institutional framework that can act across the digital ecosystem.

The technological progress resulting from digitisation is generating tremendous benefits for users around the world and access to digital content is becoming nearly universal. Chile now has 27.5 million mobile connections (153 per cent penetration) and about 13.6 million unique mobile internet subscribers (76 per cent penetration), indicating that users across all levels of Chilean society are reaping the benefits of connectivity.

The report shows that the rapid evolution of the digital ecosystem complicates the task of establishing rules capable of maintaining their validity for any length of time. It is evident in Chile that stringent regulation can distort the market and affect the emergence of new products and services.

Other fundamental aspects highlighted in the study include the need to ensure greater availability of spectrum and remove barriers to infrastructure deployment. Spectrum is the resource that drives greater investment and enables a wider variety and better quality of services.

“Without spectrum there is no possibility of moving up the technology ladder, because there will be no infrastructure available to encourage new applications, digitise production, or generate a leap in productivity,” Cabello added. “Further, we need to ensure that regulation put in place today is future-proof and able to keep pace with new developments.”