The Competition Defence Tribunal (TDC, for its acronym in Spanish), the decision-making body of the National Competition Authority (ANC), on the basis of a technical report drawn up by the National Communications Agency (ENACOM), has announced that it has decided to impose a comprehensive set of conditions on the acquisition of Telefónica Móviles Argentina by Telecom, a company belonging to the Clarín Group, with the aim of preventing this transaction from resulting in the creation of a monopoly that would harm users and free competition.

These structural and behavioural conditions seek to prevent excessive concentration in the telecommunications market and to safeguard effective competition for the benefit of users – fundamental issues for consumers that were compromised in the proposals submitted by Telecom.

Among the main conditions imposed on Telecom are the following:

• Divestment of almost 50% of its customer base: Telecom will be required to transfer 6 million mobile customers, together with the associated infrastructure, strategically distributed across the AMBA, the Northern Region and the Southern Region, to a new competitor in the telecommunications sector.
• Access to infrastructure: the company must guarantee a new operator access to its infrastructure, spectrum, systems and interconnection terms for a period of two years, ensuring the continuity and quality of service whilst the competitor develops its own network.
• Return of radio spectrum: the return of a total of 130 MHz, including an immediate return of 60 MHz nationwide, additional returns in areas of high concentration, and the allocation of the remainder to the secondary market to make it available to other companies.
• Restructuring of the fixed-line internet market: an obligation to transfer customers to other competitors in those areas where the retail market share of the entity resulting from the acquisition exceeds 50 per cent.

These conditions will ensure that an acquisition which might otherwise have left approximately 70 per cent of telecommunications services in the hands of a single business group will instead account for only approximately 50 per cent of those services.

The operation will only be viable if these measures are implemented to prevent the consolidation of dominant positions and ensure that the options available to consumers, businesses and potential competitors are not reduced. The ultimate aim is to establish an open, dynamic and competitive telecommunications market, free from dominant positions that could harm users and the country’s development.