Panama is strengthening satellite telecommunications to reduce the digital divide

Resolution AN no. 19022-Telco dated February 22, 2024. National Authority for Public Services (ASEP) established new provisions for the use of the radio frequency spectrum for satellite telecommunicationswhich apart from promoting a revolution in the telecom industries also seeks to reduce the existing digital divide in the country.

This document includes notes made by the companies Starlink Internet Services Panamá SRL, AST Spacemobile, GLobalstar Panamá Corp., Digicel Panamá, SA, Cable & Wirless Panamá, SA, and Grupo de Comunicaciones Digitales, SA that participated in said consultation.

The resolution includes economic compensation for its use, with the primary goal of promoting the entry of new actors, and in this way form, speed up closing digital divide, at a lower cost in remote, underserved rural areas.

Through a team of experts from ASEP National Telecommunications Administration Regulations have been put in place that seek to incorporate new provisions on spectrum sharing by mobile mobile operators, an action that will contribute to improving coverage in these areas to expand networks.

“With this step, Panama becomes a pioneering country, carrying out actions that go hand in hand with technological progress, providing new opportunities that did not exist in the past, which are possible today, as is the case with the new satellite industry that is “showing the need to review alternatives due to of the great modernization it is experiencing today,” Added ASEP.

Once the new rules come into force, land mobile operators will be able to provide their services through satellite stations, while users will be able to receive and send calls or messages from any point in the national geography.

ASEP, as an entity focused on promoting the development of the telecommunications industry, firmly believes in regulation that enables organic growth that allows the entry of new technologies that improve services for all users.

Study of consulting firm Telecom Advisory Services found that increasing digitization in Latin America would have a positive impact on GDP, productivity, job creation, social and financial inclusion, projecting that a 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration would generate 1.7% GDP per capita growth , and that, likewise, a 10% increase in fixed-band penetration, which includes fixed wireless access (FWA), would increase GDP per capita by 1.5%.