The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) and the National Telecommunications Council of the Republic of Haiti (Conatel) signed a “Memorandum of Understanding”, through which they agree to work together to resolve the problem of interference. of radio and telephone frequencies in the border area.
The agreement, signed by the chairman of the board of directors of Indotel, Nelson Arroyo and the general manager of Conatel, León Jean Marie Guillaume, states that monitoring will be carried out to determine interference from broadcasters in two countries. will do it once a year, in early March or October.
It also indicates that Conatel and Indotel will send a joint technical team to monitor frequencies and telecommunications sites in the border strips.
“The parties undertake to ensure and ensure that the transmitting stations (broadcasting, telecommunications) comply with the technical specifications defined in their operating license, so that their signals do not exceed the coverage areas defined in the regulatory frameworks of both countries, thus avoiding radio interference in the neighboring territory “, points out the communication sent by Indotel.
They also agreed to prevent the inhabitants of the border areas from suffering the involuntary capture of signals emitted by mobile phone network operators in the other country. “This leads, as a consequence, to bear the high charges (tariffs) for the concept of mobile roaming use,” the agreement emphasizes.
The parties provided for the establishment of a permanent working table to address common challenges and follow-up meetings for the effective implementation of the provisions and commitments of the agreement.
Nelson Arroyo said there is a desire that there can be effective regulation in the telecommunications service that is being bridged in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
“In both countries there have been complaints of interference so it is the intention of annual efforts to jointly provide solutions to these problems,” Arroyo said.
Casa Guillaume stated that the signing of the memorandum is an advance in relations between the Indotel and Conatel that will resolve the problems of interference at the border.
At the same time, he said that these show that the two nations can work together to solve bigger problems.
Cooperation area
They stressed that the cooperation between the two regulators includes the fields of interest that will be developed by each country, in its territory and according to the scope of their respective competence, such as the “strategic planning and management of the use of the Radio Frequency Spectrum “.
Also, the use of the Radio Spectrum and its allocation for the provision of telecommunications services, especially in border areas; likewise, harmonization in the development of standards and models to which telecommunications service providers must adhere, including basic services, the deployment and ownership of new information and communication technologies in both countries.
The area of cooperation includes the defense and protection of the rights of users of public telecommunications services in their respective countries and the exchange of experiences and good practices in the field of ICT, as well as the reciprocity of experts, organization of visits and meetings when deemed necessary by the two signatory entities.
The Memorandum also states that, to the extent permitted by current laws, joint operations may be carried out to find solutions to common problems affecting the areas of interest of the cooperation.