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On 11 March 2021, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (hereinafter, 'Ministry') published in the Journal 'El Peruano' Supreme Decree No. 10-2021-MTC, which approved the Regulation of the Law No. 28900, which gives the Investment Fund in Telecommunications – FITEL, the quality of legal person of public law, which is attached to the Transport and Communications sector (hereinafter, 'Regulation' and 'Law', as applicable). This modified several provisions of Supreme Decree No. 018-2018-MTC, which provides for the merger of the FITEL and the Ministry, and the creation of the National Program of Telecommunications - PRONATEL (hereinafter, 'D. S. 18-2018-MTC'); and repealed Supreme Decree No. 010-2007-MTC, which established the previous regulation of the law.

The regulation contains the principles or rules governing the administration of FITEL, which is an intangible fund whose main purpose is the exclusive financing of the following:

  • Public telecommunications services in rural areas or in places considered of preferential social interest
  • Communications infrastructure necessary to ensure access to these services
  • Telecommunications transport networks

The main aspects of the titles of the regulation are presented in the table that follows:

Resource management

PRONATEL is in charge of the administration of the Fitel resources, which come from the following:

  • The contributions of FITEL operators equivalent to 1% of the revenues invoiced and received for the provision of various telecommunications services
  • The percentage of canon collected by the Ministry
  • Resources of the Public Treasury
  • Financial income generated by FITEL
  • Resources from contractual sources of the state in the agreement of contracts for the concession of public telecommunications services

Financing from FITEL resources is of two types:

  • Refundable: The conditions of repayment are agreed as indicated in the financing contract.
  • Non-refundable: When the net current value of the project or the provision of the service is negative.

Resources can finance the following:

  • Investment cycle and/or complementary activities necessary for the operation of public telecommunications services and their correct use
  • Transmission and/or distribution infrastructure to facilitate the provision of essential public telecommunications services
  • Studies for up to a maximum of 10% of the annual budget

Formulation of projects and impediments

Initiatives can be presented by the following:

  • PRONATEL
  • Public or private entities, national or foreign, natural or legal persons, among others

Natural or legal persons who are holders of the obligation or who are partners, shareholders, investor or legal representatives are prevented from presenting telecommunications investments or requesting financing from FITEL funds in the following cases:

  • Breach of their legal obligations with respect to FITEL
  • Breach of the contractual obligations understood as grounds for termination of the financing contract with FITEL, or if it would have been terminated for a cause attributable to them
  • Breach of legal obligations of any kind arising from the allocation of the resources of FITEL
  • Maintenance of outstanding debts of payment obligations related to FITEL (This includes public telecommunications service grantees whose concession has not been renewed for exceeding the maximum penalty allowed.)

Evaluation of investments, allocation of resources, and implementation of projects financed with FITEL resources

The Ministry, through PRONATEL, determines the implementation mechanism of the various projects financed with FITEL resources in selecting the legal person in charge of their implementation.

For the provision of public telecommunications services to end users through the use of radio spectrum, the operator must have experience in national or foreign territories. The other evaluation criteria and requirements for the allocation of FITEL resources are approved by PRONATEL.

PRONATEL carries out the following actions for investment promotion:

  • It prepares the technical file or equivalent document of the projects or investments, ensuring the technical consistency between the result of these and the technical sheet or pre-investment study supporting the declaration of viability of the investments.
  • It approves the technical files or equivalent documents of the investments to be financed with FITEL resources and determines its implementation mechanism.

For its part, the Ministry, in coordination with PRONATEL, can entrust PROINVERSIÓN with the handling of the tender or public tender process for the execution of investments.

Financing contracts and disbursement of funds

The subscription of the financing contracts is carried out according to the modality of execution of the investment or within the maximum period of 20 working days, counted from the contract award. The content of the financing contracts is listed in Article 17 of the Regulation.

The disbursement of funds is made in favor of the successful winner of the tender of the financing according to what was specified in the financing contract, after verification of compliance. Disbursements to operators are made only if there are positive technical reports or observations have been lifted.

Supervision and monitoring of contracts

The supervision and monitoring of the contractual obligations of the financing contracts is the responsibility of PRONATEL. For its part, OSIPTEL carries out supervision and control tasks according to its regulatory framework.


Regarding the modifications of the D. S.18-2018-MTC, articles have been modified and incorporated in the following terms:

  • Article 7.5 has been amended by affixing an additional function of PRONATEL to promote, implement, manage, and/or develop a digital access center (CAD in Spanish), public digital access spaces (EPAD in Spanish), or other activities or initiatives to enable free connectivity to internet service.
  • Article 10 on PRONATEL financing has been amended, indicating as one of its resources those managed by FITEL.
  • Articles 10-A and 10-B related to the financing of PRONATEL's current and capital expenditures, as well as the impediments of its officials and servants, were incorporated.

You can review the full Regulation here.


We trust that this information is relevant to you and your company. If you require a deeper understanding of the topic, do not hesitate to contact us.

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