Users of Avantel in the country experienced this Tuesday for more than two hours problems in the mobile phone service. During this time they could not make or receive any calls and in some cases they also reported problems with mobile data.

In the midst of this situation, the telecommunications company accepted the failures and notified its users that they were carrying out work to restore the operation, which returned around 11 in the morning.

This panorama is added to that of other users of different operators in Colombia have denounced in recent months through social networks and official channels, about different failures in the reception of calls and in the internet connection from cell phones.

In some reports received by EL TIEMPO readers, it is pointed out, for example, the non-reception and constant drop of calls, coverage problems and internet speed that is below the plans acquired by the person.

“I have to leave my house for a call to enter my cell phone, also the internet goes down every so often”Indicates one of the complaints. On the other hand, another person adds that the service is only enabled and works normally during some hours of the day.

The last report delivered by the Communications Regulatory Commission that indicates that during In the second quarter of last year in the country 1.7 million complaints were reported about the services of telecommunications companies.

In that period, regarding mobile telephony, 416,511 complaints were filed, of which the second reason for the claim corresponds to the non-availability of the service, with 11.4 percent of the cases.

On the other hand, in the service of mobile data 51,490 complaints were received, where the 32.2 percent indicated that it was due to intermittent service, 28.8 percent due to the non-availability of the connection and 21.9 percent to billing errors.

Likewise, according to the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, the city where the highest number of lawsuits, complaints and complaints was registered in the entire country in the period from January to October of last year was Bogotá, with 50 percent of the claims, followed by Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla.

Samuel Hoyos, president of the Association of the Mobile Industry of Colombia (Asomóvil), which brings together the country’s three main operators Claro, Tigo and Movistar, assures that although in recent years the country has improved in terms of connectivity there is factors in the last year that have required the sector to provide better service.

“The pandemic has been a very important challenge for operators, we have experienced an increase in mobile network traffic close to 40 percent due to the new dynamics of user consumption”Hoyos details.

In this sense, it indicates that in order to respond to this increased demand, telecommunications companies have deployed various strategies to improve service coverage and speed.

“In different ways we have tried to respond to changes in user dynamics. This has implied increasing the capacities of the available networks and redirecting services to areas where previously there was not so much consumption”, It indicates.

Likewise, the president of Asomóvil assures that there are external situations that can generate failures in the service. “There are factors outside the industry that are attributable to third parties such as problems in the energy supply that directly affects the antennas or third-party effects on the infrastructure and that translates into problems that some users may experience,” he says.

“The main interested in offering a good service to the user are the same operators. We are aware that there are still many challenges, but satisfaction has improved ”, he points out.

What to do if I have a complaint?

The Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) is the entity in which users can file a complaint or claim Against a mobile telephone and telecommunications operator, such as the internet and fixed telephony.

The company has a term of 15 working days to respond to requests, complaints and remedies for replacement presented by users. In the event that the company does not respond to this requirement, a positive administrative silence is operated, in which the claim is resolved in a favorable way for the user.

Once this step is completed, operators have a period of 72 hours to make the decision in favor of the user effective.

People can file their complaint through electronic channels on the SIC page servicioslinea.sic.gov.co/servilinea/PQRSF2 and to the telephone line 018000910165.

Also, keep in mind that all operators have direct and digital channels to file a claim and report service failures.

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