Dominican Republic Telecommunications Law: INDOTEL Reform

Dominican Republic: INDOTEL Proposes a New General Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Law

The Dominican Republic has taken a significant step toward overhauling the legal foundation of its telecommunications sector. On 14 August 2026, the Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL) presented a proposed General Law on Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity (Ley General de Telecomunicaciones, Infraestructura Digital y Conectividad), intended to replace the country's foundational Law 153-98, which has governed the sector for 27 years.

The proposal is not yet an enacted rule. It has been submitted to the Legal Consultancy of the Executive Branch (Consultoría Jurídica del Poder Ejecutivo) and will pass through a stakeholder dialogue process before being remitted to the National Congress. For manufacturers, importers and test laboratories, this is at present a framework reform to monitor not a change to current equipment authorisation obligations.

What the Dominican Republic Telecommunications Law Proposal Would Change

The draft law builds on the existing framework established by Law 153-98 but modernises it for an environment shaped by fibre optics, newer generations of mobile networks, satellite communications, submarine cables, data centres and other digital infrastructure. According to INDOTEL, the proposal is designed around several core objectives:

• A single concession (concesión única) to simplify the sector's authorisation and licensing (habilitaciones) regime.

• An electronic one stop window (ventanilla única electrónica) to streamline the procedures tied to infrastructure deployment.

• Network sharing provisions to promote more efficient use of existing infrastructure.

• More efficient spectrum management of the radioelectric spectrum.

• Expanded user protections, covering service quality and continuity, clear information, transparent billing, number portability, accessibility for persons with disabilities, and complaint mechanisms.

• A sectoral cybersecurity regime aimed at strengthening the integrity, continuity and resilience of networks and the digital infrastructure directly necessary for their operation.

  
  

Notably, INDOTEL has stated that the regulation would concentrate on networks, services, infrastructure and resources functionally linked to telecommunications expressly not regulating content, e-commerce or digital platforms that are not functionally tied to the sector. This scoping choice is intended to delimit the regulator's remit and preserve freedom to innovate in adjacent areas.

The presentation was led by INDOTEL Board member Fausto Rosario Adames, on behalf of the Board's president, Guido Gómez Mazara. The draft (anteproyecto) was prepared by a technical legal team that has been publicly associated with the reform, including jurists José Luis Taveras, Nassef Perdomo Cordero and Angélica Noboa Pagán, supported by international regulatory consultant Christian Lizcano.

How the Proposal Reached This Stage

This announcement is the continuation of a reform process INDOTEL began earlier and opened to public input. Between 23 December 2025 and 30 January 2026 a window later extended to 4 March 2026 INDOTEL ran a public consultation on the preliminary guidelines (cuadro sinóptico de lineamientos) for reforming Law 153-98, inviting operators, industry, academia, civil society and the general public to submit comments through a dedicated channel (consultapublica@indotel.gob.do). That consultation is now a concluded proceeding.

The 14 August 2026 presentation converts those guidelines into a full draft law. INDOTEL has said it will work with the Executive Legal Consultancy on a further dialogue process with operators, users, academia, experts, entrepreneurs and civil-society organisations before the proposal is sent to Congress with the stated aim of arriving at the legislature with a "mature" text.

What This Means for Manufacturers

For device manufacturers, importers and test labs, the key point is one of framing and timing:

• No new certification obligation has been created. This is a legislative proposal affecting the sector's overall legal framework operator licensing, infrastructure deployment, spectrum administration, user rights and cybersecurity. It is not a device type-approval (homologación) instrument, and it does not, as announced, alter the current equipment authorisation requirements administered by INDOTEL.

• Current market access rules remain in force. Products entering the Dominican market must still meet INDOTEL's existing homologation and equipment authorisation requirements unchanged. Nothing about the present product certification pathway is affected by this announcement today.

• The forward looking risk is structural. A new general law that redefines INDOTEL's mandate, licensing categories and spectrum rules could, over time, reshape the administrative environment in which equipment authorisation sits for example, through a single concession model or a digitised one stop window. Any such downstream effect on device certification is not yet defined and will only become clear once the bill text and any implementing regulations are published.

• Engagement window is open. Because the proposal will pass through a stakeholder dialogue before reaching Congress, manufacturers and importers with a strategic interest in the Dominican market particularly those tracking spectrum, IoT and infrastructure rules may wish to engage through industry associations while the text is still being shaped.

  
  

The practical recommendation for now is to monitor, not act: assign this to your regulatory watch pipeline, review the draft scope as it becomes public, and reassess if and when the law is enacted with implementing rules.

Certification Impact Summary

Dimension	Current status	Detail
Instrument type	Draft framework law (proposal)	Anteproyecto of a General Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Law; not enacted
Legislative stage	Pre-congressional	Presented to the Executive Legal Consultancy; stakeholder dialogue pending before submission to Congress
Device type approval impact	No immediate change	Existing INDOTEL equipment authorisation rules remain in force; no new certification obligation announced
Operator licensing / spectrum	Potential future change	Single concession and electronic one stop window would restructure operator habilitaciones and spectrum administration (not device certification)
Effective date	None	Contingent on congressional approval and any implementing regulations
Action required now	Monitor only	No filing, testing or product compliance action is triggered by this announcement

Timeline and Required Actions

Date	Milestone	Status	Required action
23 Dec 2025	Public consultation opened on reform guidelines	Concluded	None comment window closed
30 Jan → 4 Mar 2026	Consultation comment window (extended)	Concluded	None
14 Aug 2026	Proposed General Law presented to the Executive Legal Consultancy	Completed	Review scope; assess strategic exposure to the Dominican market
Pending	Stakeholder dialogue (operators, users, academia, civil society)	Upcoming	Optionally engage via industry associations while text is shaped
Pending	Submission to the National Congress	Not scheduled	Monitor for published bill text
Pending	Enactment and any implementing regulations	Not scheduled	Reassess homologation/equipment-authorisation impact once text is final