Dominican Government red tape stymies sector, telecoms say

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic Telecoms grouped in Adomtel denounced Thursday that obstacles by Government agencies keep them from providing the services the customers require, hindering the sector’s growth.

They said for each for cell base station phones to be installed they need permits from the Environment Ministry, the Civil Aviation Institute, the city councils and Tourism when it’s coastal zones, which halts their development  projects.

Adomtel
said each authorization now takes an average of six months, which has;ed to hundreds of requests pending and a five month delay to install the equipment needed to do face customers’ increasing demand for
services.

The telecoms said the investments not obtained because of that red tape pushes them towards other countries with more efficient processes, to the detriment of the country.

"In the Telecom industry six months are an eternity; a permit shouldn’t take more than 30 days, especially when each new cell is a faithful copy of the previous," said Adomtel director Yoneidi Castillo.

The
organization thanked president Leonel Fernandez and Export and Investment Center director Eddy Martinez for the decision to submit a bill in Congress for the creation of a Unified Window to expedite the
issuing of the permits required for the growth of their technological infrastructure.

Adomtel, which groups the companies Codetel,Tricom, Orange and Viva, said they are satisfied with the measure taken in the National Palace Tuesday during a meeting between Head of State,
members of the Investment Cabinet and representatives of foreign companies, among them Oscar Peña and Jean Marc Harion, presidents of Codetel and Orange.

Castillo said Fernandez’s decision to create the Unified Window which facilitates the issuing of the permits for the telecoms is vital for the development of that sector of the local economy