Superior Administrative Court rejects Telemicro’s lawsuit and ratifies INDOTEL’s resolution on Channel 3

Santo Domingo. – Amidst the legal dispute between Juan Ramón Gómez Díaz and the communicator and businessman Dany Alcántara, the Third Chamber of the Superior Administrative Tribunal (TSA) issued a ruling that rejects in all its parts the contentious administrative appeal filed by Corporación de Televisión y Microondas Rafa, S.A. (Telemicro) against the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (INDOTEL). With this decision, the court fully confirms Resolution no. 080-2022 of the Governing Council of the regulatory body. This failure occurs after the file was resubmitted to the TSA by the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) through Judgment núm. SCJ-TS-25-0203, dated February 26, 2025, after considering that the previous decision incurred a vice of distortion of the facts. Telemicro sought for the justice to revoke INDOTEL’s resolution, alleging that it was unaware of acquired rights over the use and exploitation of Channel 3 VHF in digital technology, therefore it intended that the corresponding authorization be ordered to be issued.

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For its part, INDOTEL defended that the communication issued in 2004, used by Telemicro as its main legal support, was a temporary and precarious administrative act, valid only for testing purposes and not for definitive authorization. What the TSA decided The court established that the authorization granted to Telemicro in 2004 to operate Channel 3 VHF was conditioned on the entry into force of the Regulation of the Television Broadcasting Service and compliance with the technical requirements established in Law 153-98. The TSA concluded that: The evidence provided by Telemicro does not demonstrate compliance with the technical and administrative requirements of Law 153-98, the Authorization Regulations, the TTD Regulations (Res. 121-2021) and the Transition Plan (Res. 122-2021) to obtain the definitive license. Resolution No. 080-2022 of INDOTEL complies with the principle of legality, competence, and due process, with no evidence of violation of legal certainty or abuse of power. The court rejects Telemicro’s request to recognize its right to use and exploit Channel 3 VHF and modify the Frequency Plan, recalling that this power is exclusively administrative of INDOTEL. Voluntary intervention of FRANASYL, S.R.L. During the process, the company FRANASYL, S.R.L., which obtained a license to operate virtual Channel 3 in November 2024, filed a voluntary intervention lawsuit. Telemicro requested that said participation be declared inadmissible, alleging that the company lacked standing and that its alleged rights had been transferred to ADC MEDIA. The TSA rejected this approach and declared FRANASYL’s intervention valid, stating that it met the legal requirements and that Telemicro’s objection constituted a defense on the merits. The process was declared free of court costs, due to the nature of the case.