MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Andean Community lifts roaming charges as of Jan. 1

The decision had been approved in 2020

Roaming charges for cell phone communications is about to become a thing of the past for countries of The Andean Community (CAN - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). Effective Jan. 1, 2022, and thanks to the joint work of its member countries and the institutional strength that it has had for more than 52 years, the citizens of the CAN will not have to pay any additional surcharge for post-paid international roaming and will be able to be more and better communicated.

Decision 854, a supranational and mandatory regulation that was approved Feb. 19, 2020, will allow the same conditions or rate plans to be applied as the country of origin for voice, SMS and data services.

This improvement will help more than 111 million users regionally and contribute to effectively close the digital divide, but above all it will strengthen the Andean Digital Agenda, promoted by the Secretariat General jointly with the governments of the CAN. The suppression of international roaming charges is expected to benefit large numbers of Bolivians, Colombians, Ecuadorians and Peruvians, as the region advances towards deeper integration.

Other achievements by the regional bloc include the Andean Migration Statute, which establishes temporary and permanent residence in all CAN countries, in addition to the bylaw facilitatina the circulation of vehicles for private use of tourists in the four countries; and the Andean Environmental Charter, the first multilateral instrument in the region, within which an environmental diagnosis has been developed and which will soon make it possible to implement a modern technological platform with interoperable information on the environmental situation.