Portada By Jorge Jacobs
Interview with Alfredo Guzman

Telecommunications in Guatemala. A Jump From the Past to the Future

The telecommunications market is open since the 18th. of December 1996, after the publication of the General Law on Telecommunications. Some interesting movements can already be observed in the market. For instance, there are more than 160 companies inscribed in the telecommunications registry, of which many plan to compete with Guatel, (the existing government phone company), and others to continue business that already existed or will exist in the future. More than 7,000 applications for frequencies have been presented to the Telecommunications Superintendency.

This opening includes all markets in telecommunications: local, national long distance, international long distance and mobile.

By the end of the year, 100% of the metropolitan net will be digital, which means that we shall have an intelligent net. Users will have access to special services such as: caller ID, voice mail, hot line, waiting call, call follow-up, wake-up calls, private communications nets, virtual nets within Guatel's net, and services with pre-paid cards. In the rest of the country only 30% will remain analog, and that will eventually be converted to digital.

In order to increase transportation capacity, the construction of the national optic fiber net was awarded to the company Alcatel. This will constitute the backbone of Guatel, and will connect the principal centers with multiple use technology, that is, it will be able to transmit voice, data and video, and will be more than 1,200 kms. long. In other words, guatemalans will see next year things unheard of in our country before.

The fact that there will be no obstacles, either to come in or to go out, will make possible a great amount of operators. One thing is certain: within the next 18 months, in what concerns telecommunications, this will be a new country.

Inicio Write to us at agg@guate.net
July, 1997