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The Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Pamela Gidi, had to clarify this Monday afternoon the information provided by the President of the Republic, Sebastián Piñera, who through Twitter assured that -with the entry into force of the end of roaming agreed with Argentina- the Telephone calls to trans-Andean devices “cost the same as a local call.”
The message released by the president on Sunday confused several users, implying that calls to the neighboring country would not be considered as long distance, something that the recently implemented measure does not contemplate.
From today, thanks to the Free Roaming agreement that we achieved with @alferdez, calls and telephone messages to Argentina cost the same as a local call
This technological integration will facilitate tourism, trade and create new opportunities for all Chileans pic.twitter.com/oVrvWLEw5S
– Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) August 30, 2020
In effect, what the new rule will allow is that whatever the modality, plan or prepayment, “the costs will be the same, as if they were in their country of origin,” Gidi explained in conversation with the Bío Bío Express.
The latter is also reflected in the announcement made parallel to the other side of the mountain range. The Argentine president himself, Alberto Fernández, wrote on his Twitter account that “as of today, neither the Chileans who cross into Argentina nor the Argentines who travel to Chile will pay extra for the mobile phone service.”
“This is great news at this time when connectivity is essential to our lives. Thank you, dear @sebastianpinera ”, he published.
Starting today, neither Chileans who cross into Argentina nor Argentines who travel to Chile will pay extra for mobile phone service.
This is great news at this time when connectivity is essential to our lives. Thank you dear @sebastianpinera. pic.twitter.com/Zmdddx6REE
– Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) August 29, 2020
End of roaming, but long distance remains
Although without directly mentioning President Piñera’s tweet, the undersecretary -as anticipated- specified that calls to Argentina will continue to be considered international long distance and, therefore, will not cost “the same as a local call,” as the Chilean head of state.
“I want to make a clarification that has caused confusion in recent days: roaming is basically when the telephone of a telecommunications network turns on in another country, then it begins to use the network and infrastructure of another telecommunications company,” Gidi started by saying.
“Then, as companies began to charge each other for services, in the end an extra price appeared before the end user, which was a product of what the other company charged the original supplier, plus a surcharge,” he added.
“That will no longer exist, but international roaming -which is the one that is eliminated- has nothing to do with the international calls that can be made here in Chile to other countries that continue to operate and are charged as before. If I am in Chile and I call Argentina there, I am not getting on a different infrastructure network. (…) That is not roaming and that is not what ends, ”she clarified.
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