The Government will force operators to offer a social internet rate to ensure connectivity
The Government finalizes the regulations that will oblige telecommunications operators to offer a social bonus for disadvantaged groups and with few resources, and thus guarantee universal access to the Internet established in the Telecommunications Law. A project which is currently subject to public hearing. As confirmed invested, this new standard requires the development of a Decree Law -which is currently being worked on- which will follow the approval of the Telecommunications Law which is expected to be presented to Congress in November. The new legal body should be approved in the first half of next year, the date by which this new social bond should be in operation, one of the commitments signed by the PSOE with United We Can in the investiture pact of the current coalition government. So far there is only one social bonus that guarantees the fixed telephony service, but the objective is that the operators can offer a bonus for internet and thus ensure the connectivity of all Spaniards, one of the objectives of the Executive of Pedro Sanchez on plan Spain Digital 2025. This would equalize the regulations applied to vulnerable groups in water, electricity and gas supplies. In fact, the new Law -which is a transposition of the European regulation of the sector- establishes for the first time that Internet access must be a universal service, a provision that until now only included fixed telephony. Minimum services The same Law establishes the minimum services to which all Spaniards must have access with their internet connection. These are e-mail, search engines, basic training and education tools, press or news, purchase of goods or services, job search, establishment of professional networks, internet banking, use of electronic administration services, social networks and instant messaging and phone calls or video calls in standard quality. Taking these basic services as a reference, the Law establishes that “among the options or rate packages (of the ‘telecos’), there must be a social bonus for voice communications services that are provided through an underlying connection in a fixed location , a social voucher for broadband internet access services that are provided through an underlying connection in a fixed location and a social voucher that includes both services in a package”.
