Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni announced that the government will privatize two 5G slots that had previously been assigned to state organisms and open them to market bidding. One is a 100 megahertz (MHz) band belonging to satellite company ARSAT and the other is a 50 MHz band owned by the National Communications Agency (ENACOM, for its Spanish initials).
“The goal is to achieve higher deregulation, market openings, and corrections of any existing distortions that affect the quality of telecommunications services,” Adorni said, adding that the decision was made to “protect consumers’ rights.” The slots will be made available to private companies already operating in the market or who wish to enter it.
This would be the second tender of 5G slots in Argentina. In October of last year, ENACOM allocated frequency bands to Mexican Claro and Spanish Telecom, with one 100 MHz band each for US$350 million. Meanwhile, Spanish Telefónica/Movistar was awarded a 50 MHz band for US$175 million.
It should be noted that the three main telecom operators (Claro, Telecom, and Movistar) of the country issued a statement in August 2023 leading up to the bidding with a list of what they called “obstacles” that compromised 5G development in Argentina. In addition to complaints about bandwidth costs and price regulations, they pointed specifically to the “free allocation” of a slot for ARSAT.
“It is an economic contradiction and distortion, anticompetive and irregular. It is a development that shows great judicial uncertainty,” they wrote.
The Presidential Press Office also announced the selling of the government-owned 5G bands, saying that the decision was made “in order to optimise underutilized assets and create more providers.”
“The goal is for the current oligopoly to function in market conditions, which will allow for the necessary investments to improve telecommunications services and create more competition,” they said in a post on X.
Although Argentine cities including Buenos Aires, Rosario, and Córdoba already had 5G antennas before the 2023 bidding, the technology had not been widely available mainly because the bandwidth required for its transmission is limited and expensive. Latin American countries with 5G networks in place include Brazil, Mexico, and Chile.
5G is a cellular network, the fifth-generation technology standard with a peak download speed of 10 gigabits per second — 10 times higher than 4G, its predecessor. As well as personal internet and mobile communication, 5G can be used for satellite networks, drones, industrial plant automation, and the so-called Internet of Things, among many others.