The Honduran Congress has approved a rescue plan for state-owned operator Hondutel. The operator has been authorized to start negotiations with private banks to receive financing of up to HML 106 million (approximately USD 5.2 million) to cover the salaries of its employees, local newspaper La Prensa reports. Also under this rescue plan, over the next 45 days, Hondutel will have to sell or rent some assets – including land and buildings – that it is not currently using.
At end-June, the Maria Antonieta Guillen, minister of the Honduras presidency, announced that Hondutel “is in a very critical situation that directly affects the state’s fiscal deficit and monetary injections required to continue operating”, Honduras News reported. Guillen also said that there are other measures, such as the voluntary departure of thousands of employees in order to find “the balance point” to prevent further losses for Hondutel by year-end.
The Congress has also ordered telecoms regulator Conatel to establish symmetric fixed-to-mobile interconnection charges between operators. Conatel has 10 days to set a symmetric price of USD 0.015 per minute as termination rate for fixed-to-mobile and mobile-to-fixed calls. According to Francisco Rivero, head of the Budget Commission within the Honduras Congress, asymmetric rates generated overall loses of up to USD 200 million for Hondutel.
