Argentine watchdog awards financing to finish Arsat project

Argentine state-owned telecommunications company Arsat will receive 1.5 billion pesos (US$1.56 million) to complete a program to increase the capacity of the fiber optic network, after it was approved in 2020.

The resolution signed by the regulator Enacom also establishes a six-month extension of the project execution period, starting from the issue of this resolution.

The main goals of the original 3bn-peso project were to increase the capacity of the network links to 200Gbps of data transmission speed, expand the existing 40Gbps aggregation channels in the DWDM (dense wavelength-division multiplexing) network and update the Refefo backbone to support the new projected capacity by replacing 10G interfaces with 100G ones.

Although it was expected to be completed within 24 months, the deadlines had to be extended and it has still not been concluded.

The funds approved this month cover outstanding balances for the project, remaining purchase orders and possible exchange rate differences.

Of the 1.5bn-peso additional funds, a portion could be allocated to the comprehensive audit of fulfillment of the project objectives. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional will conduct that audit.

Arsat has a 34,500km fiber optic network.

UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND

The measure is part of a process to review and redesign the management model for the US$119mn universal service fund that is being carried out by the appointed administrator of Enacom.

There was not a sufficient record of the compliance status of the projects financed by the fund, of which only 50% was being spent, according to the regulator.

The regulator is currently in the process of verifying this compliance. It is estimated that between 2.5bn and 3bn pesos must be paid for pending contributions to projects approved and completed, but for which the last payments are still owed.