Dominican Republic -- Public Policy -- May-2018

INDOTEL calls for Project Proposals related to the Telecommunications Development   Fund -- 2019-2020 Biannual Plan

Relevant Government Entity: INDOTEL[1] (Telecommunications Regulatory Agency)

Legal Basis: General Telecommunications Law No 153-98[2] of 27-May-1998 ; Resolution No 023-10 (Telecommunications Development Fund)

Date of Issuance: 17-May-2018

Summary - Objectives: The national Telecom Regulatory Agency has called the public and private sectors, NGOs, and any interested person to submit proposals before the Telecommunications Development  Fund Department[3] with the goal of reaffirming the Universal Service through the following principles:

         I.            Ensure access to a basic telephone service in low income rural and urban areas.

       II.            Freedom of access to public telecommunications services and its associated networks.

Process Schedule:

Some elements to take into consideration:

·         In order to be registered for the process (which is rather under a very short notice mode by Indotel) the interested party shall send an e-mail to Indotel (not later than Friday, 1-june-2018).  It is very simple and the only requisites are to provide the name, contact person, phone number, email address and the name of the project.

·         The project -- which is to be funded with resources from the Telecommunications Development  Fund and therefore considered Public Funds under the law of Dominican Republic – must comply with the Guides and regulations established for Public Investments projects.

·         The evaluation of the Proposals will be conducted by a panel made of 3 experts.

·         Among the core aspects to be evaluated under the current national Public Policies are: Digital Government, Digital Inclusion, Cybersecurity, Information Society Governance and Digital Infrastructure.

·         The Project Proposals will be evaluated under three “axes” or core elements: 1) Access to Infrastructure; 2) Human capacitation and capital development and 3) Innovation and business development.

·         The Board of Directors[4] shall be the deciding body within Indotel and will notify the proponents whether the Project will be included in the Biannual Plan for execution and funding.

 For further information or any inquire please contact Eduardo J Benitez at ejb@andeanlawyers.com