Progress Review of Peru's Telecommunications Regulator

Annex A. At a glance: progress on the 2018 recommendations

 

2018 Recommendations	Assessment of progress	Status
Role and Objectives
Develop a robust external relations strategy	OSIPTEL made some progress by appointing a parliamentary co-ordinator, but lacks a robust external relations strategy – differentiated from its communications activities – to establish a stable narrative on its role as a neutral arbiter and outcomes to all stakeholders.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Set up a forum where economic regulators of Peru can come together	High-level co-ordination between economic regulators on strategic matters of joint concern continues to take place through informal channels and is complemented by increasing knowledge exchange at the technical level.	Good progress on recommendation
Develop a stable yearly regulatory planning	OSIPTEL has taken a positive step forward by establishing a yearly regulatory agenda published on their website, which can now be further improved to foster greater predictability and stability for all stakeholders.	Good progress on recommendation
Actively push for the creation and implementation of more structured and regular co-ordination mechanisms	Political instability and high turnover at senior levels within the executive branch has hindered the creation of more structured co-ordination with public entities, including the MTC. OSIPTEL has continued to regularly issue non-binding opinions and engage via informal discussions as their main vehicle for co-ordination.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Proactively share a strategic view on the sector, publish comments submitted to consultations and share data and analysis on sector performance	OSIPTEL submits and publishes comments to consultations when requested by the MTC and shares data on sector performance, but does not proactively share its strategic view on the sector.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Assess with the Ministry whether the governance and implementation of FITEL is aligned with overall strategic vision for the telecommunications sector	An assessment of OSIPTEL’s role in FITEL (now PRONATEL) has not been conducted with the MTC, and a further evolution of FITEL into PRONATEL has potentially created new areas of overlap.	Limited progress on recommendation
Reassess if the functions and powers of the regulator are aligned with its roles and objectives	OSIPTEL continues to be given new functions and responsibilities by the executive or by Congress that may create confusion about the role of the regulator in relation to other public entities.	Limited progress on recommendation
Continue monitoring trend of customer complaints and assess whether relevant regulation continues to contain loopholes	OSIPTEL has successfully reduced the backlog of consumer complaints, setting up a system that is fit for purpose going forward.	Recommendation implemented fully
Review approaches, functions and resources dedicated to consumer protection	OSIPTEL has sought to further emphasise its user protection functions, in part due to external pressures.	Limited progress on recommendation
Evaluate the efficiency outcome of the two models of decentralised presence (regional offices and centres)	OSIPTEL enacted an internal reorganisation and digital tools to streamline the governance of user protection.	Good progress on recommendation
Share and build on OSIPTEL’s methodology defining its strategic framework and performance indicators, while working on streamlining the indicators	OSIPTEL uses a robust process for developing its strategic plan that is in alignment with standards of good practice, and could share their experience with other public entities in Peru.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Develop a holistic approach to bring together and clarify communications and official engagement mechanisms while making clear, separate, and consistent the appropriate avenues	OSIPTEL has continued to invest in strengthening its communication capabilities, with a focus on information provision and responding to user issues, but could invest in more structured two-way approaches to stakeholder engagement.	Good progress on recommendation
Input
Seek clarity on central administration constraints that impact on the regulator’s funding model and financial management	The regulator has improved clarity on central administration constraints on the regulator’s funding model through engagement with the executive, but did not engage on financial management.	Good progress on recommendation
Set up a practice whereby regulatory fees are reviewed every three years (or another regular and reasonable time frame) based on cost recovery principles of funding of economic regulators	OSIPTEL has secured a more adequate budget through an increase in the regulatory fee that can be reviewed every three years based on a substantiated proposal by the regulator, although a lack of criteria or procedures for this review defined in law could reintroduce budgetary uncertainty.	Good progress on recommendation
Engage in a systematic discussion with relevant stakeholders of additional resource needs	OSIPTEL proactively engaged with the PCM and the MEF to share information and discuss its funding needs; a further aspirational step could be to engage more widely with other stakeholders on the topic of resource needs to support broader understanding.	Recommendation implemented fully
Advocate with other economic regulators for a review of the law regarding absorption of carry forward in regards the budget of economic regulators	OSIPTEL advocated for a change regarding the use of carry-forward funds, but there is still no structural mechanism for the regulator to carry forward unspent funds.	Limited progress on recommendation
Seek to implement a human resource framework regarding diversity, recruitment, remuneration and incentives that takes into account the special needs of economic regulators	OSIPTEL improved its human resource management, but restrictions regarding remuneration, incentives, recruitment and training prevent the regulator from taking into account the special needs of economic regulators in its HR framework.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Level the playing field for staff between the different categories of contracts	Progress to merge the different contract regimes into a new uniform regime is slow, and while job stability to staff employed under the CAS regime improved, this came at the cost of increasing difficulties to hire new staff.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Share good practices and results in terms of talent retention and staff well-being	OSIPTEL maintains informal working level contact with HR colleagues at other regulators to share good approaches, which the regulator could leverage to discuss the issue of an increase in staff turnover.	Good progress on recommendation
Consider the possibility of implementing transparent and open requirements and recruitments for all posts in the regulatory authority	OSIPTEL improved most of its staff recruitment processes to ensure merit-based recruitment, although certain senior positions can still be hired outside of public contests.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Process
Assess whether the activity and duties of the Board reflect its mandate and structure and consider ways to involve Board members in deciding on the long-term strategic direction	OSIPTEL submitted two unsuccessful requests to the executive and made practical improvements, but should expand the Board’s involvement in strategic decision making to make best use of its limited time.	Limited progress on recommendation
Consider supporting informed decision making by the Board by making available advisory resources and proposing specialisation and responsibility for certain strategic areas that could rotate between members	Board members can request informal meetings with technical specialists and legal advisors ahead of board meetings, but have not been assigned specific strategic areas.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Remove any potential conflict of interest when reviewing the duties and structure of the Board.	OSIPTEL has implemented a number of measures to safeguard the integrity of both staff and the Board, and should support these measures by advocating for staggered board terms.	Good progress on recommendation
Review the internal governance and management processes to ensure adequate diversity in decision making	An internal reorganisation supports the operational efficiency of the regulator, but at the same time reduces the diversity in decision making.	Limited progress on recommendation
Introduce a deliberate mechanism for quality control and check that can also serve as a challenge function with regard to decision making and processes	OSIPTEL made some improvements to its internal quality control mechanisms, but reviews tend to take place only during the final stages of a proposal and OSIPTEL did not introduce any new peer review mechanism to provide a challenge function.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Maintain momentum towards the full implementation of the new RIA system	OSIPTEL successfully implemented its new RIA system.	Recommendation implemented fully
Review and make necessary changes to activate the users’ council	OSIPTEL successfully reinstalled a users’ council that performs a critical outreach function for the regulator, which can now be further integrated into the regulatory decision-making process.	Good progress on recommendation
Create an advisory committee of stakeholders for transparent and early consultation	OSIPTEL did not yet establish an advisory committee for consultation on regulatory topics and initiatives, thereby lacking a platform to obtain information and feedback early on in the regulatory process.	No progress on recommendation
Develop use of digital tools for regulatory activities and use existing tools such as WhatsApp and Twitter for more structured and effective consultation and feedback	OSIPTEL’s use of social media and digital tools aims to support users with complaints and provide information, but does not systematically facilitate consultation on regulations.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Develop and disseminate an annual regulatory programme that would present the regulator’s activities	OSIPTEL made strong progress by publishing a regulatory agenda that it could now leverage as a tool for stakeholder engagement.	Good progress on recommendation
Extend ex post evaluations as a consistent and automatic component of policy making	OSIPTEL is taking steps to complement its use of RIA with a more consistent use of ex post reviews	Moderate progress on recommendation
Adopt a risk-based strategy to inspections and enforcement and review methods for streamlining the sanctioning process to achieve desired behaviour changes	OSIPTEL modified its inspections regulation and implemented digital tools to collect data on compliance, and should now make its inspections and enforcement more risk-based and behaviourally-informed.	Limited progress on recommendation
Assess the validity and accountability of decision making in setting the level of sanctions as well as reviewing appeals	While OSIPTEL updated its methodology to set the level of sanctions, there remains a lack of independent review of sanctioning decisions upon appeals that goes beyond internal legal analysis.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Put in place a regular engagement activity with the Congress to increase accountability as well as understanding	OSIPTEL engages more frequently with Congress and its committees, especially through the new parliamentary co-ordinator, but it remains difficult to clearly communicate and assert the regulator’s role in a context where dialogue revolves mainly around user complaints.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Assess the impact of the various reporting and transparency tools and potentially streamline	OSIPTEL improved its reporting through an updated website and aligns its transparency reporting with the Peruvian central government’s portal.	Good progress on recommendation
Strengthen mechanisms to supervise and enforce OSIPTEL Code of Ethics	OSIPTEL improved practice by implementing measures such as an Integrity Plan, integrity and compliance officers, the Anti-Bribery Management System and a guideline on complaints regarding acts of corruption.	Good progress on recommendation
Further refine the online transparency portal to provide full information about visits	Transparency on visits by regulated entities could improve by providing additional information on visits on the regulator’s website.	Limited progress on recommendation
Consider live streaming meetings of the Board	OSIPTEL has decided not to proceed with the recommendation to live-stream board meetings.	No progress on recommendation
Output and Outcome
Share the good experience of OSIPTEL’s strategic framework	OSIPTEL could share the good practice of its strategic framework with other public bodies as a way to support efforts to build a robust external narrative of the work of the regulator	Limited progress on recommendation
Streamline PEI and POI indicators for more focused efforts and resources on monitoring and reporting	OSIPTEL has invested in streamlining its indicators and setting multi-annual targets, with more reductions in the number of indicators planned in the future.	Good progress on recommendation
Explore including targets for indicators in the strategic framework and monitor achievement of these targets in reporting	OSIPTEL sets targets, though reporting on indicators is still complex. Further investments in transparency via reporting on performance could help OSIPTEL in its efforts to communicate the narrative of the regulator.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Further align the annual report to the strategic framework and use it to communicate on achievement against the strategic objectives	OSIPTEL’s annual report is not fully aligned with its strategic framework and could be communicated in a more systematic manner	Limited progress on recommendation
Review the scope of market performance snapshots in favour of a predictable annual market performance report, which could be used to engage with industry	The regulator does not yet produce an annual market performance report as a means to engage with industry.	No progress on recommendation
Review the current data collection policies to ensure it is still fit for purpose and appropriate to limit the data compliance burden on industry	OSIPTEL has invested in reducing the burden associated with its regular data requests, though a rise in ad hoc requests re-introduces burdens and reduces predictability in the regulatory process.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Organise public event with stakeholders for the presentation of the annual report	Communication around the annual report remains ad hoc, although the regulator made a proposal to present the annual report to Congress.	Moderate progress on recommendation
Explore opportunity to streamline or reduce data reporting requirements to alleviate issues	OSIPTEL has invested in reducing the burden associated with its regular data requests, though a rise in ad hoc requests re-introduces burdens and reduces predictability in the regulatory process.	Moderate progress on recommendation