Regulator Imposes Sanctions on Movistar

Panama's telcoms regulator Asep has sanctioned mobile carrier Movistar Panamá for service interruptions in March and September 2006, Asep said in a statement.

The first interruption occurred on March 21, when the company's GSM network went down for 36 minutes and its TDMA service for 126 minutes, affecting 562,842 clients across the country.

The second break occurred between September 30 and October 3, and through a technical fault on the company's prepaid platform interrupted service for some 36 hours over the four-day period.

The regulator justified the sanctions on grounds that the interruptions amounted to breach of contract. Movistar's concession specifies that the operator must deliver uninterrupted service to its clients.

Movistar, a unit of Spain's Telefónica, will have an opportunity to defend itself, and Asep is in the process of determining applicable penalties for the service breaks.

The regulator also recently notified the country's incumbent fixed line operator Cable & Wireless Panamá that it will be sanctioned for failing to comply with public telephony goals set forth in its concession contract.

Starting this month, Asep will implement service goals that aim to improve both CWP and Movistar's service. The regulator will perform field tests on the operators' networks, testing coverage, signal quality and the average time to connect calls."

Posted to the site on 17th January 2007