La Libre Competencia Económica en El Régimen de Los Servicios Públicos (Economic Competition in the Public Utilities Law Regime)

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of competition as a legal and economic criterion in the legal regime of public utilities. It focuses in the public utilities and telecommunications services, because they were liberalised by the law in Colombia. The article also analyses some judicial and administrative decisions that have strengthened or weakened the role of competition in these economic activities. In particular, it examines the law of contracts of the enterprises in the public utilities sector; the powers of the competition authority in the public utilities sector; and the recent decision of the Council of State regarding a third TV channel for the telecommunications sector.