The COIT highlights the progress of the new General Telecommunications Law, in which it has actively participated

The new Law 11/2022, General Telecommunications, the reference sector standard for the entire sector, has had the active participation of the COIT together with other agents in the sector under the coordination of the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures.

In its processing there has been a broad political consensus for the approval of a norm that aims to contribute to the “creation of wealth, employment and territorial and social structuring” and in which the connectivity It is configured as the key piece in the development of our digital society and the user, as pointed out by the COIT itself.

As pointed out by the Official College of Telecommunications Engineers, the text presents a clear continuous character with respect to the previous Law, which endorses "the positive impact of this on infrastructure and competition in the Spanish telecommunications market." Even so, the COIT highlights some of the main improvements of this new text: the boosting deployments and investments in ultra-fast networks, work for which “more agile and better coordinated” mechanisms will be established between public administrations; he progress in the deployment and access to the 5G mobile telephone network, while the fiber network will be further improved and increased, especially in rural areas, or the commitment to building connectivity and the connectivity of the exterior as in the case of urbanizations, expanding and developing in greater detail the sanctioning regime for ICT.

Other improvements are that in the urbanization process A specific telecommunications infrastructure project must be included to allow the arrival of operators on equal terms; new rights for users, such as greater transparency in operator contracts or the reform of the universal service, which will include Internet connection and exclude cabins, and the possibility of creating a national alert network in case of catastrophe.

Short-term measures

The bulk of the law came into force on June 30, although other deadlines have been enabled for the development of some of its most relevant precepts. Among them is the commitment on the part of the Government to develop measures that, within a year, will allow citizens as a whole to have a minimum connection of 100 Mbps per second. Likewise, the right of citizens to do not receive unwanted calls for commercial communication purposes It will also come into force within 12 months.

Ultimately, the COIT considers that the new General Telecommunications Law "This is a text that includes our objectives and that allows us to continue working so that the almost hundred regulations and ministerial orders that must be developed after this law see the light in the shortest possible time and reinforce the essential role of Telecommunications Engineers in the sector as a whole."