According to Art. 313 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador 2008, the State reserves the right to administer, regulate, control, and manage strategic sectors, including telecommunications. Furthermore, according to Arts. 316 of the Constitution of the State and Art. 14 of the Organic Law of Telecommunications, public telecommunications services are provided directly by the State, through public telecommunications companies, or indirectly through delegation to mixed economy companies in which it has a majority shareholding.

The Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National Corporation of Telecommunications) is the dominant provider of fixed telecommunication services and is fully owned by the Ecuadorian Government. It was created by Executive Decree No. 218, which specifically establishes that the Ministry of Telecommunications and the Information Society, representing the State, is the sole shareholder.
La Empresa Pública Municipal de Telecomunicaciones, Agua Potable, Alcantarillado y Saneamiento de Cuenca (Etapa EP, Municipal Public Company of Telecommunications, Drinking Water, Sewage and Sanitation of Cuenca), created by a January 2010 ordinance, is another case in which the telecom operator is a state-owned enterprise. Initially created in February 1948 as Empresa Municipal de Electricidad, Agua Potable y Teléfonos (EMLAT), ETAPA EP provides municipal internet and fixed, wireless and public telephone services.

It is reported that government procurement in Ecuador is frequently cumbersome, insufficiently transparent, and vulnerable to corruption. Public institutions are said to delay payments without providing justification, even when goods and services have been satisfactorily delivered and supported by appropriate work orders and receipts. This lack of transparency creates a risk that procuring entities may conduct procurement procedures in a manner that favours a preferred supplier.

Ecuador is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2019.

According to Art. 313 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador 2008, the State reserves the right to administer, regulate, control, and manage strategic sectors, including telecommunications. Furthermore, according to Arts. 316 of the Constitution of the State and Art. 14 of the Organic Law of Telecommunications, public telecommunications services are provided directly by the State, through public telecommunications companies, or indirectly through delegation to mixed economy companies in which it has a majority shareholding.

According to Art. 98 of the Organic Law on Communications, all the advertising that is disseminated in Ecuadorian territory through the media must be produced in Ecuadorian territory by Ecuadorian natural persons or foreigners residing in Ecuador or produced abroad by Ecuadorian persons residing abroad or foreign legal entities whose ownership of the majority of the share package corresponds to Ecuadorians and whose payroll for its realisation and production is made up of at least 80% of Ecuadorian nationals. In addition, the importation of advertising pieces produced outside the country by foreign companies is prohibited, with the exception of what is established regarding foreign legal entities, with a majority of shares owned by Ecuadorians. According to the same article, advertising production is understood as television and movie commercials, radio spots, photographs for static advertising, or any other audiovisual piece used for advertising purposes.

Art. 6 of the Organic Law on Communication provides that national mass media outlets may not have any part of their shareholding owned, whether directly or indirectly, by foreign organisations or companies domiciled outside the Ecuadorian State, nor by foreign nationals, except for those foreign nationals who lawfully reside within Ecuador. Under Art. 5, mass media outlets comprise public, private, and community organisations, as well as holders of radio and television frequency concessions, which engage in the mass dissemination of communicational content through print media, radio, television, and subscription-based audio or video services, including content generated or reproduced online. Art. 6 further establishes that mass media outlets acquire national status when their coverage, publication, or circulation, as applicable, reaches 30% or more of the country’s population.
However, Art. 67 of the General Regulations to the Organic Law on Communication establishes an exception, under which foreign companies or nationals of countries that have entered into trade agreements with Ecuador are exempt from the aforementioned restriction.

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According to Art. 98 of the Organic Code on Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity, and Innovation, applicants who do not have residency in Ecuador must have an agent domiciled in the country who can help them register industrial property rights and answer petitions of competent national authority.

Ecuador is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Ecuador is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Art. 25.2 of the Organic Law on the National System of Public Procurement stipulates that, for the acquisition of goods and services not classified as of Ecuadorian origin under the relevant regulations, prior verification of the absence of Ecuadorian-origin offers shall be required. Such verification must be carried out through expeditious mechanisms that do not hinder the contracting process.

Art. 37 of the Organic Law on the National System of Public Procurement provides that the participation of foreign consultants in public procurement procedures, whether natural or legal persons, is limited to services, fields, activities, or areas in which there is, either partially or wholly, no domestic technical capacity or experience, as certified by the National Public Procurement Service, which must issue a public notice inviting expressions of interest from national suppliers. Where, within eight days, no domestic providers express interest, or those that do fail to meet the required technical capacity or experience, the contracting authority may authorise the participation of foreign consultancy service providers. Art. 39 further provides that foreign legal entities must be domiciled in Ecuador in order to execute public contracts, and that foreign companies registered as consultants in the Unified Registry of Suppliers (RUP) may not engage in any activity other than consultancy services within the scope of their registration; in all cases, preference is given to the engagement of Ecuadorian professionals.

Ministerial Agreement No. 141 requires public entities to procure telecommunications services exclusively from State‑owned providers. Art. 1 requires that public‑sector bodies contract services such as fixed telephony, advanced mobile services, data links, internet services, and other related telecommunications services through public telecommunications enterprises. Art. 2 permits procurement from private providers only where public telecommunications enterprises are unable, for duly justified technical reasons, to meet the required specifications. Art. 3 extends these obligations to the acquisition of emerging digital technologies, including big data, the Internet of Things, blockchain, cloud computing, hosting, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and comparable technologies. It is reported that, pursuant to this framework, customers seeking to contract cloud service providers that rely on data centres located outside Ecuador must do so through the National Telecommunications Corporation (CNT), a State‑owned entity that acts as the mandated local partner.