About us
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MICT), according to Law 1341 or ICT Law, is the entity responsible for designing, adapting, and promoting ICT policies, plans, programs, and projects. One of its functions is to increase and facilitate the access by all inhabitants of the national territory to information and communication technologies and their benefits.
History
At the time of the Colony, the mailing of Indias was created, by privilege granted by the Spanish Crown, by royal decree of May 14, 1514, to don Lorenzo Galíndez de Carvajal. The colonial post offices were located on one of the two sides of the Plaza Mayor of Santafé, then moved to Calle Real today's seventh race. The Royal Postal Administration House was built in 1553 on the southern corner of Bogota's cathedral. The Post Office building stood for a century and a half and was demolished in the second half of the 20th century to build the residence of the Archbishop of Bogotá.
The transfer of post offices from the Plaza Mayor was made to the former convent of Our Lady of the Rosary owned by the Dominicans. In 1826 Congress elected the Liberator Simón Bolívar as President of the Republic, who took office on September 10, 1827, at the premises of the Cloister. On July 18, 1861, the decree of dead hands or expropriation of the property of the clergymen was issued and in this way, the convent was occupied by the troops of General Mosquera.
After the 1917 earthquake, the post and telegraph offices were moved to the Cuervo Passage on the 7th run with Jiménez Avenue. Later, at the time of the Republic, in 1847, with General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera as president, the first steps were taken to implement the electric telegraph with the help of Great Britain.
The first telegraph message
In 1851 President José Hilario López contracted with the firm Ricardo de la Parra et al. to introduce the electric telegraph, granting it the exclusivity of its exploitation for 40 years. However, this project could not be carried out due to political conflicts between 1852 and 1854. Fourteen years later, when Manuel Murillo Toro was president, the first telegraph message was sent between Cuatro Esquinas (today municipality of Mosquera) and Santafé de Bogotá.
However, by Decree No. 160 of 16 April 1876, the National Government for the first time regulated the rules for the construction and maintenance of telegraph lines by private individuals, grouping the lines existing in the country into eight sections. In turn, in 1880, the Government granted permission to the Central and South American Cable Company to lay an undersea cable between Panama and any Central American Republic to link the country to the United States via Mexico.
Subsequently, after nearly 29 years, the National Government resumed direct administration of the national telephones and telegraphs, creating the Telegraph Inspectorate as an agency attached to the Ministry of the Interior.
In 1913, the company Marconi Wireless began providing radiotelegraphy in the country, with a network of 12 cities. In 1919, the Government contracted the same company to build the International Station in Bogotá, which was inaugurated after four years, on 12 April 1923. In 1927 it was ordered the destruction of the Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary and by Laws 85 and 198 of 1926 and 195 the building of the Palace of Communications was ordered and after many criticisms, it was inaugurated in 1944. In 1960 it was moved from Independence Park to the entrance of the 8th race. the statue of President Manuel Murillo Toro.
From Ministry of Post to Ministry of Communications
In 1953 and by Decree No. 259 of 6 February, the National Government determined that, from 1 February of that year, the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs would henceforth be known as the Ministry of Communications, restructured it and established its operations based on the Departments of Posts, Telecommunications, and Rendering. Since 2008, a total remodeling of the building has been carried out, including anti-seismic structural reinforcement and the recovery of elements such as the cannon vault that illuminates the first floor.
Since 2009, the Ministry of ICT
Likewise, since July 30, 2009, the date on which former President of the Republic Álvaro Uribe Vélez approved Law 1341, the then Ministry of Communications became the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies. The new law created a regulatory framework for the development of the sector and the promotion of access to and use of ICTs through massification, the promotion of free competition, the efficient use of infrastructure, and, in particular, the strengthening of the protection of users ' rights.
