The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) and the National Telecommunications Council of the Republic of Haiti (Conatel) have signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” in which they undertake to work together to resolve the issue of radio frequency and telephone interference. area.
The agreement, signed by Indotel’s chairman of the board of directors, Nelson Arroyo, and Conatel’s general manager, León Jean Marie Guillaume, stipulates that monitoring will be carried out to determine the interference of radio stations in both countries, which will be done once year, in early March or October.
In addition, it indicates that Conatel and Indotel will send a joint technical team to monitor the frequencies and telecommunications sites on the border lanes.
“The Parties undertake to ensure and ensure that transmission stations (broadcasting, telecommunications) comply with the technical specifications defined in their operating licenses so that their signals do not exceed the coverage areas defined in the regulatory framework of both countries, thus avoiding radio interference in the neighboring territory “, indicates the communication sent by Indotel.
They also agreed to prevent border residents from suffering from inadvertent capture of signals from mobile network operators in the other country. “Consequently, this leads to high tariffs (charges) for the use of mobile roaming services,” the agreement states.
The Parties have ordered 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 was a desire for effective regulation in the telecommunications service provided in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
“There have been complaints of interference in both countries, so it is the intention of the annual efforts to jointly provide solutions to these problems,” Arroyo said.
Marie Guillaume said that the signing of the memorandum is a progress in the relations between Indotel and Conatel that will allow solving the problems of interference at the border.
He also said that they show that both nations can work together to solve bigger problems.
Cooperation area
They emphasized that cooperation between the two regulators includes areas of interest that will be developed by each country, within its territory and according to their respective areas of competence, such as “strategic planning and management of radio spectrum use. “
Also, the use of radio spectrum and its allocation for the provision of telecommunications services, especially in border areas; similarly, 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 field of cooperation includes the protection and protection of the rights of users of public telecommunications services in those countries and the exchange of experiences and good practices in the field of ICT, as well as reciprocity of experts, organization of visits and meetings when deemed necessary by the two signatories.
The memorandum also specifies that, to the extent permitted by existing legislation, joint operations may be carried out to find solutions to common problems affecting areas of interest for cooperation.