en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Argentine government has approved Telefónica's proposal to sell its subsidiary to Telecom Argentina. The approval requires Telecom to divest certain radio spectrum and specific customers in the transaction to prevent anti-competitive behavior.
Telecom reached an agreement last year to acquire Telefónica's Argentine subsidiary for $1.25 billion. Under the conditions, Telecom must divest strategic assets to ensure other operators remain competitive in the market. The deal will reduce Argentina's telecom market from three operators to two, leaving AMX (Claro) and Telecom as the only remaining players. Argentine regulators stated that the spectrum divestiture will pave the way for a third operator.
Argentina's National Competition Authority (Autoridad Nacional de la Competencia, ANC) noted that to maintain a market structure with three strong competitors, Telecom must transfer the business base of 6 million active mobile customers to an independent acquirer. Of these, 4 million customers are located in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, and 2 million are in other parts of the country. The transfer includes contracts, numbers, and call records, and will incur no fees for users.
The ANC did not disclose the name of the independent telecom company but stated that future third-party entrants will gain access to network sharing agreements, allowing them to use Telecom's infrastructure while developing their own networks. This includes joint use of antennas and radio equipment (RAN sharing), providing services on another operator's network (domestic and international roaming), and hosting equipment at shared sites. The arrangement has a minimum term of three years. For Telefónica, the company is one step closer to exiting another Latin American market. The Spanish telecom operator is refocusing its efforts on Europe and Brazil.
The operator has already exited several other Latin American markets, including Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay, and has agreed to exit Mexico.
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