Enacom approves return of Telecom Argentina frequencies

Regulator Enacom approved Telecom Argentina‘s proposal to return spectrum in the 900MHz and 2,600MHz bands.

Telecom Argentina promised to return spectrum after its merger with Cablevisión, which acquired 80MHz through its acquisition of Nextel Communications.

At the time of integration, Telecom Argentina had 140MHz of spectrum, the limit legislation allowed, but after the process, Telecom Argentina exceeded the limit in different areas of the country.

The return of spectrum was one condition the competition authority and the commerce ministry imposed before approving the merger.

But Telecom Argentina had conditioned the return of spectrum on the modification of the spectrum limit, which was evaluated several times at the regulator.

Now, the operator must return spectrum in 298 locations to comply with the cap, mostly in Buenos Aires city and province.

The resolution also establishes that Telecom Argentina, as Nextel’s successor, must comply with the coverage commitments agreed in May 2017.