Telecommunication Regulation and Liberalization
Chile was the first country in Latin America to liberalize its telecommunications industry, a process which was rolled out in the late 1970s. This began with the creation of the National Telecom Act in 1978, which allowed for the licensing of telecommunication services within the country. During that same year, the government formed the Subsecretaría de Telecommunicaciones (SUBTEL) , the agency that would be responsible for regulating and managing the industry. SUBTEL worked closely with industry leaders to effect momentous changes. The efforts began with the liberalization of the long distance telephony. Additionally, in 1981, the government monopoly over telegraph and telex services was abolished and finally, in 1992 the local telephony market was also liberalized. The benefits of such actions were readily evident as the number of lines per 100 inhabitants went from 5.3 to more than 21 during the peak of the privatization effort [5]. Today, the industry is highly competitive with 12 local service and 10 long distance providers. For more details on major telecommunications companies and their corresponding market shares, refer to the Telecommunications Infrastructure section.