According to Art. 21 of the General Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies Law, there is a passive infrastructure sharing obligation both in the fixed and mobile sectors.

Art. 77 of Law No. 164 stipulates that the executive, legislative, judicial, and electoral branches, at all levels, shall promote and prioritise the use of free software and open standards within the framework of national sovereignty and security. The executive branch at the central level of the state shall prepare the implementation plan for free software and open standards, in coordination with the other branches of the state and the entities of public administration.

There is a limitation on foreign equity participation in the government‑controlled telecommunications company Entel, which was nationalised by Supreme Decree No. 29544. Art. 19 of Law No. 516 stipulates that the assets and investments recovered through nationalisation processes undertaken by the State for the recovery of natural resources and strategic sectors may not, under any circumstances, be privatised in any form.

Art. 30 of Supreme Decree No. 0181 establishes that, for goods, specific preference margins and numerical adjustment factors shall apply according to the procurement modality: under the Support for National Production and Employment (ANPE) scheme, a 10% preference margin is granted for goods produced domestically regardless of input origin, with an adjustment factor of 0.90; a 25% margin applies where nationally sourced components (raw materials and labour) constitute between 30% and 50% of the gross production cost, with an adjustment factor of 0.75; and a 35% margin applies where such components exceed 50%, with an adjustment factor of 0.65. In the case of public tendering, a 10% preference margin is likewise applied to domestically produced goods regardless of input origin, with an adjustment factor of 0.90; a 20% margin applies where national components represent between 30% and 50% of the gross production cost, with an adjustment factor of 0.80; and a 30% margin applies where national components exceed 50%, with an adjustment factor of 0.70.

According to the Supreme Decree No. 29544, the State of Bolivia nationalised the share package held by the company ETI EURO TELECOM INTERNATIONAL NV in Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones Sociedad Anónima - ENTEL S.A.A. The Bolivian State owns 97.5% of the shares of ENTEL, while the other 2.5% is owned by minority shareholders. In addition, according to Art. 19 of Law No. 516, assets and investments recovered as a result of the nationalisation processes carried out by the State may not be privatised under any modality.

Art. 31 of Supreme Decree No. 0181 stipulates that, in the procurement of goods and services through public tender procedures and the Support for National Production and Employment (ANPE) modality, a preference margin of 20% shall be applied to the bid price submitted by micro‑ and small‑sized enterprises, associations of small-scale urban and rural producers, peasant economic organisations, and artisans. The numerical adjustment factor applicable in such cases shall be 0.80. In addition, these entities may also benefit from the preference margins established under Art. 30.

The country does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, according to Art. 45 of the General Telecommunications, Information, and Communication Technologies Law, accounting separation is mandated since 2011.

Art. 87 Bis of Supreme Decree No. 0181 stipulates that, where a contract is awarded to a foreign bidder, the latter shall be required to subcontract national enterprises, provided that such enterprises are available within the domestic market

It is reported that Bolivia’s public tendering process is nontransparent and acts as a barrier to participation. Government requirements and the details of tenders are not always clearly defined, and procurement notices are not always made public. Concerns have also been raised that certain state-owned companies are not required to publish their tenders through the official procurement system or to follow the procedures established under the national public procurement framework.

Bolivia is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.

There is a limitation on foreign equity participation in the government‑controlled telecommunications company Entel, which was nationalised by Supreme Decree No. 29544. Art. 19 of Law No. 516 stipulates that the assets and investments recovered through nationalisation processes undertaken by the State for the recovery of natural resources and strategic sectors may not, under any circumstances, be privatised in any form.

According to the Art. 416 of the Commercial Code, in order for a foreign company to operate in Bolivia, it must be registered in the Commercial Registry by establishing either a branch or a permanent representation with a domicile within the territory of the Republic.

It is reported that effective protection of patents is limited by reliance on a century-old industrial law, namely the Law of 2 December 1916.

Bolivia is not a signatory of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Bolivia has a copyright regime under the Law No. 1322. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 24 lists the exceptions, which include citation of an author as long as it is for teaching or research purposes, in accordance with honest uses, to the extent justified by the purpose pursued and not abusive. Furthermore, Bolivia is a member of the Andean Community of Nations and is subject to Decision 351, issued in 1993. Art. 22 of the Decision sets forth a list of mandatory exceptions in the internal market but also allows the adoption of additional exceptions in the domestic law of members, as long as they comply with the international standards of the so-called three-step test.