Argentina - Telecom Market and Regulatory Overview - Background Report

Synopsis

Up until 1990, Argentina’s telecom system consisted of a state-owned monopoly, the National Telecommunications Company (Entel), and some 300 independent operators, mostly cooperatives, which collectively held a small share of the country’s fixed lines in service, providing local telephony in rural areas not covered by Entel. In order to prepare for privatisation and competition, it was decided to split Entel’s operations geographically. For this purpose, the country was divided into a northern and a southern region. Telecom Argentina (sold to France Telecom and Telecom Italia) received a licence for the north, and Telefónica de Argentina (sold to Spain’s Telefónica), received a licence for the south. Full liberalisation of the Argentine telecom market took place in phases, from mid-1998 through to November 1999. This report provides background information for the more regularly updated Argentina - Telecom Market Trends, Key Statistics and Regulatory Overview. As such, it covers details on the history and development of Argentina’s telecom market and regulatory framework that are absent from the more up-to-date report, but it does not contain current market trends, analyses, or statistics.