Intervention in Argentine telecom regulator extended by a year

As expected, the Argentine government extended until July 2025 the intervention in telecommunications regulator Enacom and confirmed Juan Martín Ozores, who is overseeing the process, as head of the entity.

The measure seeks to deepen the deregulation and modernization of the watchdog and create a more agile structure to carry out reforms. The resolution, published Monday in the official gazette, also eliminates the figure of deputy auditor.

Ozores’ role will have three main axes: convert Enacom into a technical and dynamic entity, advance in future-proof regulation and redesign the management model of the universal service fund and the audiovisual development fund Fomeca, according to information sent by the watchdog to BNamericas.

“Due to the nature of technological advance, an important part of the rules that regulate the activity became obsolete, contradictory or juxtaposed with each other,” Ozores, had said previously in a meeting with journalists.

Some of the rules that could be modified because they are obsolete are the quality regulation, the sanctioning regime and the virtual mobile operator regulation. It is likely that other regulations, such as those relating to public telephony, will be repealed directly.

The regulator also plans to reformulate the universal service fund that manages more than US$100mn and advance a spectrum plan and upcoming tenders to make available frequencies that are currently unused, among other measures.