Venezuela has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Based on the safety and confidentiality principle (No. 7) set forth in Decision No. 1318, the transfer of personal data to other countries requires the data owner's prior consent and that the recipient country has rules guaranteeing, at least, the same level of protection of personal data as Venezuelan regulations.

According to Art. 97(8) of Decree No. 1402, banking institutions are prohibited from transferring their principal computer centres and databases, either in electronic form or as users' physical documents, to a foreign territory. The Superintendency of Banking Sector Institutions is in charge of issuing regulations to determine which computer centres and databases qualify as principal in accordance with a binding opinion issued by the Central Bank.
The repealed Banking Sector Institutions Law of 2010 contained a similar restriction in Art. 99 with the difference that it prohibited the transfer of all computer centres and databases and not only those determined to be principal. The 2010 law was reformed in 2011 by Decree 8.079, which maintained the restriction in Art. 99. This 2011 decree was repealed by Decree No. 1.402 of 2014.

According to Arts. 34-35 of the Organic Telecommunications Law (Gaceta Oficial No. 39.610: Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones), the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process. However, Art. 40 provides that the Board of Directors is made up of the General Director of the National Telecommunications Commission, who presides over it, and four directors who are freely appointed and removed by the President of the Republic, therefore making the authority not fully independent from the government.

Venezuela has only partially appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

According to Art. 97(8) of Decree No. 1402, banking institutions are prohibited from transferring their principal computer centres and databases, either in electronic form or as users' physical documents, to a foreign territory. The Superintendency of Banking Sector Institutions is in charge of issuing regulations to determine which computer centres and databases qualify as principal in accordance with a binding opinion issued by the Central Bank.
The repealed Banking Sector Institutions Law of 2010 contained a similar restriction in Art. 99 with the difference that it prohibited the transfer of all computer centres and databases and not only those determined to be principal. The 2010 law was reformed in 2011 by Decree 8.079, which maintained the restriction in Art. 99. This 2011 decree was repealed by Decree No. 1.402 of 2014.

According to Arts. 34-35 of the Organic Telecommunications Law (Gaceta Oficial No. 39.610: Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones), the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process. However, Art. 40 provides that the Board of Directors is made up of the General Director of the National Telecommunications Commission, who presides over it, and four directors who are freely appointed and removed by the President of the Republic, therefore making the authority not fully independent from the government.

Art. 5 of the Organic Telecommunications Law provides that to establish or operate telecommunications networks and to provide telecommunications services, the prior obtaining of the corresponding administrative authorization, concession or permit, if necessary, shall be required, in the cases and conditions established by the legislation and the National Telecommunications Commission. The mentioned activities and services may be subject to quality parameters and special goals of uniform minimum coverage, as well as to the provision of services under preferential conditions of access and prices to certain public institutions.

Venezuela does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation since 2011. The Organic Telecommunications Law establishes in the Final Provisions (13th) that the regulations of this Law may provide for the obligation of telecommunications operators to separate their accounting by services, in order to guarantee transparency in their operations and allow effective control by the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National Telecommunications Commission) and by the Superintendencia para la Promoción y Protección de la Libre Competencia (Superintendency for the Promotion and Protection of Free Competition), in accordance with the rules established for such purpose.

Venezuela has only partially appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Art. 5 of the Organic Telecommunications Law provides that to establish or operate telecommunications networks and to provide telecommunications services, the prior obtaining of the corresponding administrative authorization, concession or permit, if necessary, shall be required, in the cases and conditions established by the legislation and the National Telecommunications Commission. The mentioned activities and services may be subject to quality parameters and special goals of uniform minimum coverage, as well as to the provision of services under preferential conditions of access and prices to certain public institutions.

Venezuela does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation since 2011. The Organic Telecommunications Law establishes in the Final Provisions (13th) that the regulations of this Law may provide for the obligation of telecommunications operators to separate their accounting by services, in order to guarantee transparency in their operations and allow effective control by the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National Telecommunications Commission) and by the Superintendencia para la Promoción y Protección de la Libre Competencia (Superintendency for the Promotion and Protection of Free Competition), in accordance with the rules established for such purpose.

The main fixed telephony operator, Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela (Cantv), is controlled by the Venezuelan government with 86.2% of the total shareholding, as well as the main mobile telephony operator, Movilnet, which is a subsidiary of Cantv.

There is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Venezuela to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements. Art. 125 of the Organic Law on Telecommunications establishes that any person that exclusively or predominantly owns or controls a general telecommunications route must allow access to or use of the same by telecommunications operators that request it, when its substitution is not feasible for physical, legal, economic, technical, environmental, security or operational reasons. The same article states that general telecommunications routes are understood to be the elements that allow the placement of the physical means necessary for the provision of telecommunications services, in accordance with the provisions of the respective regulations.

The main fixed-line operator (Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela, Cantv) is controlled by the Venezuelan government and it is reported that there is no foreign ownership. On the other hand, it is reported that full foreign ownership is allowed with respect to telecommunications sector.