. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/N/576 
5 October 2010 
 
 (10-5053) 
Council for Trade in Services Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III:3 
OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON 
TRADE IN SERVICES 
 
 
 The following notification from the delegation of Colombia, dated 17 September 2010, is 
being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services.  
_______________ 
  
1. Member notifying: 
Colombia 
2. Notification under: 
 Article III:3 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services 
3. Date of entry into force: 
 The Law became effective on 30 July 2009 with the exception of Articles 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 
15, 36, and 68 with the exception of subparagraph 1 thereof, all of which will come into force 
six months after its enactment. 
 
 Duration: 
 Indefinite 
 
4. Agency responsible for implementation  and enforcement of the measure: 
 Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies 
5. Description of the measure: 
 Law No. 1341 of 2009, which defines the princi ples and concepts of the information society 
and the organization of information and comm unication technologies (ICTs), establishes the 
National Spectrum Agency and sets forth other provisions. 
  The purpose of the Law is to lay down the general framework for the formulation of the 
public policies that will govern the informa tion and communication technologies sector, its 
general organization, the system of competiti on, user protection, matters pertaining to 
coverage, quality of service, promotion of invest ment in the sector and the development of 
these technologies, efficient use of networks and the radio spectrum, and the powers of the State with respect to the planning, management, proper and efficient administration of S/C/N/576 
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  resources, regulation, control and surveillance of the radio spectrum, and the provision of 
free, non-discriminatory access to the informatio n society for inhabitants of the national 
territory. 
  This Law compiles all the regulations governing the sector in a move to put an end to the 
fragmentation of regulatory responsibilities and bring them all together under one and the 
same law. 
  Not only are regulatory responsibilities unified, but the entire telecommunications sector is 
also viewed and treated as a whole.  Law No. 1341 defines the scope of the sector as follows: 
 
 "The information and communication technologi es sector is composed of manufacturing, 
commercial and services industries whose produ cts collect, process, create, transmit or 
display data and information electronically. 
 
 As regards the manufacturing industries, the pr oducts must be designed to fulfil the functions 
of information processing and communication, incl uding transmission and display, and must 
use electronic processing to detect, measure and/ or record physical phenomena or to control 
a physical process. 
 
 As regards the services industries, the produc ts must be designed to allow information 
processing and communication by electroni c means, without adversely impacting the 
environment." 
 
 Article 10 of Law No. 1341 allows anyone to "provide telecommunications networks and 
services" but makes it clear that this is a "public service under State ownership."  The Law 
establishes a system of private provision of a public service. 
6. Members specifically affected, if any: 
 None 
7. Text available from: 
http://www.mintic.gov.co/minco m/documents/portal/documents/r oot/Normatividad/Legislacion
/ANO%202009/Ley%201341%20de%202009.pdf . 
 
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