BRIEFS. Communication
Regulations approved for cell phone towers
After several years of debate, complaints and disagreements between residents and telecommunication companies, Panama finally has guidelines regulating the installation and operation of mobile phone towers.
A law drafted by the Dirección General de Salud Pública, in consensus with the Defensoría del Pueblo, regulates where the towers can be installed and how close they can be to public buildings and to each other.
According to the resolution, companies interested in installing a tower must inform residents living nearby. The towers must also be designed to blend in with the local landscape.
Companies that want to install towers have to work together so that multiple entities can use the same towers, thus cutting down on the number of units being erected.
Cell phones have been widely used in Panama for around 10 years, yet while some people see the phones as essential, the towers that enable their use have generated considerable controversy.
According to Manuel Troitiño, telecommunications director of the Autoridad de Servicios Públicos (Asep), there are about 800 communication towers in the country, about half of them reserved for mobile phones.
It is estimated that there are 2,391,000 mobile phones in use in Panama. As they have become more common, so have complaints about the towers.
Some 20 complaints about the issue have arrived at the Defensoría del Pueblo in recent months.
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