The National Communications Entity (Enacom) authorized satellite internet providers Starlink, OneWEB, and Amazon’s Kuiper to operate in the country.

According to presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni, the decision will result in “greater freedom, investment and competition in the satellite internet market” as Argentina “returns to the center of the international debate and to having mature relationships with free countries.” 

ENACOM sources highlighted the role of satellite connectivity and pointed out that many areas of the country still have no internet access. “People and companies engaging in agricultural, oil, fishing, mining and educational activities, as well as tourist enterprises, will now be able to access high-speed internet via satellite,” one of the sources said. 

“Our goal is to enable the creation of a simple, competitive, and transparent ecosystem that provides the necessary legal security to all industry actors in order to promote investment, competition, and high-quality service provision,” they added.   

The decision was made formal in four Enacom resolutions published today in the Official Gazette and signed by the entity’s interim head, Juan Martín Ozores. 

In late December, President Javier Milei announced the deregulation of satellite internet services “to allow companies like Starlink into [the sector]”. Chapter 2 of Milei’s mega-decree included modifications to the Digital Argentina Law that liberalized rules on the offer of satellite communications systems. The decree has yet to be discussed in Congress, although it is in force unless the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate both reject it.

Starlink’s CEO Elon Musk praised Milei several times last year through his X account. After Milei’s win, the president-elect spoke on the phone with Musk and thanked him for “defending the ideas of freedom.” He says the Tesla CEO wished him “luck and success” in the task ahead, and that they talked about the possibility of Musk visiting Argentina in 2024. 

– With information from Télam