PARLACEN Headquarters Guatemala City. Image Credit El Periodico.
The Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) will seek the intervention of
legislatures in the region to eliminate cellular roaming in Central America according to outgoing PARLACEN President Manolo Pichardo in an interview today in the Prensa Libre newspaper.
The Central American Parliament (Parlacen) will present to the legislative assemblies of Central America an initiative to eliminate the roaming of mobile telephones in the isthmus so as to make all calls local, as regional telephone companies have shown little interest in promoting this initiative.
Manolo Pichardo, who handed over the Presidency of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) few days ago, has said that he earlier this year presented the initiative of the regional forum to several Governments in the region, who along with executives from the three major telephone companies were all in in favor of the move.
“But that changed because the companies asked for time to consult with their headquarters in other countries, and their head offices responded that they were not interested,” said Pichardo.
Because of that refusal, the Parlacen will resort to the region’s legislatures so that telephone companies would have to eliminate the roaming of calls between the member countries of that institution – Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Panama – making all calls in the region local.
“Very few people use the roaming services and companies would gain more if everyone would make normal calls, and that would of course favor the populations in the region,” said Pichardo. In fact, Nicaragua has already began the process of approval for this initiative and is expected to promote it at the next Summit of Central American Presidents.
Proposals For Open Skies, Regional Driver’s Licenses For Central America
Also under preparation are two other proposals. The first is that flights between the Central American countries be considered local, and this would lead to a considerable reduction in the cost of air travel, in a policy of “open skies”.
“It is often much more expensive to travel from Guatemala to the Dominican Republic than to Europe, and that is unfair”, pointed out Pichardo. The open skies policy will be also discussed with the airlines.
Another measure underway is an initiative to standardize the legislation of the Parlacen members countries with a view to create a standard drivers license for the region, in the style of the European Union.
The three proposals, said Pichardo, will foster the image of the Parlacen, as they are issues “that will directly benefit the people of our countries”.