Government Policies
Venezuela is one of the founding members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Their prior membership in GATT allowed them accession into the WTO. With this membership, Venezuela has agreed to reduce its overall bound rate to 25% by the year 2004. This is down 15% from the general ceiling level negotiated during its accession to GATT (Economic Problems, Feb 7, 1996. pg. 1)
The Venezuelan government is relatively open with its policies regarding telecommunications. They do impose a 5% (of gross revenues) telecommunications tax on all national or internationally operated companies. These taxes along with the regular VAT tax of 16.5% need to be paid by everyone. (1997 National Trade Data Bank. pg. 23)
Fees also exist in obtaining "Official Stamps" which allow companies to do business in Venezuela. Some of the fees are as follows:
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Basic telephony services- $10,500 |
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Public telecommunications service- $210 |
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Mobile cellular telephone- $2,100 |
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International paging- $315 |
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Switched data networks and private network services- $2,100 |
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All television services and mobile satellite services- $1,050 |
The Venezuelan government does not impose any special tariffs on to telecommunications equipment. They are susceptible to the same taxes as national companies.
Simon Bolivar Satellite Project
The Venezuelan government is involved with the Simon Bolivar Satellite Project. This project involved 77 private investors, and the five countries of Andean Pact (Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). The Simon Bolivar project allows Venezuela access to uninterrupted signals from the Mexican satellites Solidaridad I and II. They will have leasing rights and access to the transposers at preferential prices. Through this satellite, Venezuela has access to educational programs, and the use of the infrastructure for cultural, economic and technological exchange in association with the Mexican network (Inter Press Service. Dec 18, 1997).
Another part of the Simon Bolivar Satellite Project is the creation of a new satellite for the Andean countries. The building of the satellite is estimated to cost $300 million. The profit from the satellite could bring between $40 and $45 million per year. Therefore, the life of the satellite needs to be about eight years to pay for itself.
The Mexican government has agreed to provide assistance in creating the satellite and in helping to locate an adequate orbital position. When the Simon Bolivar satellite is launched it will be a hybrid satellite with the capacity for 50 transposers and for use in telephone communications, television, VSAT and other business services. (Inter Press Service. Dec 18, 1997)
The Venezuelan government plans to use the Simon Bolivar satellite to increase the capacity of its internal networks. Currently, no infrastructure exists in order to link of the government departments and agencies.
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