El Salvador drops basic fee for fixed telephony

A new bill was approved by El Salvador’s legislative assembly that eradicates the basic fee for fixed line telephony, BNamericas reports, according to TeleGeography CommsUpdate.

Telecoms regulator Superintendencia General de Electricidad y Telecom (SIGET) decided to raise the basic fee by almost 50 percent from USD9.42 per line rental to USD14.32.

According to a statement on the assembly’s Web site, the new law is designed to benefit those affected by the global economic slowdown, and the resulting unemployment and drop in remittances from family abroad. However, as consumers will pay only for the calls they make, consumer protection agency CDC has warned that telcos may raise their tariffs or quality of service could be adversely affected.