What is required of real estate projects in relation to the facilities to provide telephone, internet or pay television services?
In any condominium or building project that considers telecommunications facilities, the free choice of fixed telephone, internet and pay television services for each of the units must be ensured. This applies to everyone, whether or not they are under the real estate co-ownership regime.
How does free choice translate into practice?
Any real estate project that considers telecommunications services must have the necessary capacity so that various telecommunications operators can supply their services under competitive conditions. This obligation applies to both indoor and outdoor installations.
What benefit does this mean for owners and renters?
The people who live in the houses or apartments have the right to freely choose the service provider. A specific company cannot be imposed on them. This ends the exclusivity that some companies enjoyed in some buildings or condominiums.
What happens if the co-owners or the management committee agree by majority to choose a supplier company?
An agreement of this nature cannot be imposed on everyone and does not oblige those who wish to contract with another company.
What should companies that start a real estate project do?
The companies that carry out the real estate projects must register them in a public and electronic registry that will be implemented and maintained by the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications. The idea is that telecommunications operators can adopt the measures to provide their services in these projects. This registration is a requirement for receiving the works.
The Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications is obliged to issue a regulation together with the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism to regulate the way of registration of projects in the aforementioned registry.
What functions are added to the manager of a condominium or building?
The administrator must ensure that the telecommunications network support infrastructure is not intervened by third parties with the purpose or effect of preventing the entry of different telecommunications operators. As long as there is no election of administrator by the assembly of co-owners, this task must be done by the company responsible for the real estate project.
Neither the assembly of co-owners nor the management committee can reach exclusive agreements with any company.
What about pre-2015 buildings that have only one provider of a certain service?
Any owner can require the administrator to carry out the necessary works to have at least two suppliers. Such works will require the agreement of the co-owners assembly and may only be denied in the event that the security of the building or condominium or its exterior appearance may be affected. Whatever the nature of the works that are required to be executed, they may not imply an extra or additional expense for joint ownership, unless it is so agreed in an extraordinary meeting of joint owners.
