Sputtering to a start: the history and future of radio spectrum regulation in Uruguay

• Autor: Evan Light
• Páginas: 303-332

303

controVersias y concurrencias latinoamericanas

issn 2219-1631 Vol.6 no. 9 abril 2014

coedición: Journal of latin american communication research

ISSN: 2237-1265

SPUTTERING TO A START:

THE HISTORY AND FUTURE

OF RADIO SPECTRUM REGULATION IN URUGUAY

Evan Light

Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada)

evan@theotherthing.org

ABSTRACT

While the radio spectrum has been used for communication in Uruguay since the

early 1900s, its regulation remains very much in development. This article traces the

history of spectrum regulation in Uruguay from its inception through 2013. A case

study of Uruguayan spectrum policy, it documents the practices that have led to the

development of the current system and continue to drive it forward in the context of

convergence. In it, I analyze recent eorts to introduce formal regulatory systems and

new mechanisms for public participation in policy-making. I draw upon secondary

sources as guides for historical analysis while evaluation of the current system relies

largely upon extensive primary data gathered between 2009-2012. Primary sources

include parliamentary records and other documentation, interviews undertaken

with government ministers, law-makers, civil society organizations, regulators, union

organizers, independent experts and the private sector, and follow-up communica-

tion with interview subjects.

Keywords: Broadcasting, radio, regulation, spectrum, Uruguay

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eVan liGht

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Sputtering to a start: the history and future of radio spectrum regulation in Uruguay

INTRODUCTION

The radio spectrum is quickly becoming the primary medium through which hu-

mankind communicates. According to the International Telecommunications Union

(ITU), there are almost as many cellphone subscriptions in the world as people (6.8

billion subscriptions, 7.1 billion people) (ITU, 2013, p. 1). Additionally, people increa-

singly connect to the internet through mobile connections, especially in developing

countries (ITU, 2013, p. 6). Access to the spectrum, and the ability to partake in de-

cision-making around its use, is thus becoming increasingly important. This article

details the history of radio spectrum regulation in Uruguay. It shows that in order to

comprehend future debates, issues and power relations, one must understand the

processes of the past. While much similar work tends to focus exclusively on either

telecommunications or broadcast media, I propose that in order to address conver-

ging media, technology and policy, the communicative uses of the spectrum should

be considered as a whole.1

While wireless communication has been used in Uruguay since the early 1900s,

regulation is still in development. Uruguay presents a case where commercial and

state-operated telecommunications companies compete with one another, hun-

dreds of community radio stations requested licenses during a recent legalization

process, and potentially hundreds of other stations operate as “pirates”. Uruguay be-

came the world’s rst country with an entirely digitized wire-line communications

infrastructure in 1997 (ANTEL, 2012). Since 2005, the cellphone penetration rate has

increased from 34.9% to 141.2% (URSEC, 2011) and the federal government has im-

plemented the One Laptop Per Child program in all public elementary students.2 Wi-

reless is the way forward, yet its users operate in a policy framework that is in cons-

tant, stuttering, evolution. This case study of Uruguayan spectrum policy documents

the practices that led to the development of the current system and continue to drive

it forward. It analyzes recent eorts to introduce formal regulatory systems and new

mechanisms for public participation.

This article has seven sections. Section one presents the theoretical and methodo-

logical approaches used in this research. Section two examines the history of Urugua-

yan communication law and policy from the early 1900s -1990s. Section three maps

1 For a detailed literature review, see (Author, 2012b) and (Author, 2013).

2 A penetration rate above 100% means does not mean that every individual possesses a cellphone but

instead that people use multiple phones/SIM cards.