Regulation

Argentina orders Telecom to divest customers and spectrum to secure Telefónica deal

Argentina’s competition watchdog the Autoridad Nacional de la Competencia (ANC) has ordered Telecom Argentina and Telefónica to surrender customers and spectrum to a third party in order to gain approval for their proposed merger.

Telefónica announced its US$1.3 billion sale of its Argentine unit to Telecom in February 2025, drawing criticism from rivals and prompting President Javier Milei to order a detailed review into whether the deal would create an overly concentrated market.

The transaction would combine Telefónica’s Movistar brand with Telecom’s Personal business, creating the country’s largest mobile operator.

According to ANC figures, market leader Claro currently holds a 41.8% share of Argentina’s mobile market, followed by Personal with 33.8% and Movistar with 24.4%. Combined, Personal and Movistar would control 58.2% of subscribers nationwide.

The ANC said the transaction would reduce the number of independent mobile network operators from three to two and, without remedies, create a duopoly in mobile services.

To preserve competition, the authority has ordered Telecom to transfer six million active mobile customers to an independent buyer – four million in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and two million elsewhere in the country. The transfer must include contracts, numbering resources and call history records, with no cost imposed on customers.

Spectrum required to continue serving those subscribers must also be transferred, with the ANC treating the customer and spectrum divestments as inseparable. Telecommunications regulator ENACOM will be responsible for designing the technical framework for the transfer.

The regulator also imposed measures intended to help establish a viable third mobile operator. Telecom must provide network-sharing arrangements including roaming, co-location and radio access network (RAN) sharing, enabling the new entrant to use existing infrastructure while building out its own network.

These arrangements will remain in place for a minimum of three years and can be extended until the new operator has a fully operational network. The entrant will also have the option to acquire mobile infrastructure assets, including sites, antennas and associated equipment.

Competition concerns were also identified in fixed broadband markets where Telecom and Telefónica operate overlapping networks. As a result, the ANC ordered the divestment of Movistar’s residential broadband customer base in 28 locations across Buenos Aires City, Buenos Aires Province, Mendoza, Neuquén and Río Negro, affecting approximately 211,400 subscribers.

In Buenos Aires City, the transfer must include Telefónica’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network. In areas where structural remedies were deemed impractical, the regulator imposed behavioural measures including bans on service degradation, mandatory bundling and discriminatory pricing practices.

The ANC also introduced safeguards in corporate and wholesale telecommunications markets, including non-discrimination obligations, restrictions on exclusivity agreements and guarantees that existing wholesale contracts and internet exchange arrangements will continue.

Telecom will have 18 months to complete the required divestments and comply with the conditions. An independent monitoring agent, working alongside the ANC, will oversee implementation.



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