Latin America

Metrotel cleared to take six million lines Telecom must divest

Argentina's competition authority accepted Metrotel as the buyer under the conditions attached to Telecom's Movistar acquisition. A definitive agreement and customer transfer had still not been filed as of September 17.

Argentina's National Competition Authority (ANC) accepted Metrotel as a prospective buyer of the customer base Telecom Argentina must divest under the conditions attached to its acquisition of Telefónica Móviles Argentina. Convergencia Latina confirmed the clearance directly with the authority on September 10. Approval of an eligible buyer is a regulatory step; it is not a signed sale agreement or evidence that subscribers have moved. [2]

The ANC's June conditions require the transfer of six million active mobile lines: four million in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area and two million elsewhere in the country. The aim is to preserve a third network competitor alongside Telecom's Personal and Claro after the combination with Movistar. The authority barred Claro from buying this portfolio. These are lines that must change hands as a competition remedy, not customers already migrated to Metrotel. [1]

The mobile package is more than a list of phone numbers. The ANC linked the customers to the radio spectrum needed to serve them and provided for temporary use of Telecom infrastructure through antenna sharing, roaming and shared sites. That network-access arrangement must last at least three years and can be renewed while the entrant develops its own network. Moving customers without a practical way to maintain service would undermine the remedy. [1]

The fixed-internet measure covers 211,400 Movistar subscribers in 28 localities across five districts. This separate divestiture addresses local concentration risks; it should not be added to the six million mobile lines as though the figures measured the same service. In Buenos Aires city, Telefónica's fiber-to-the-home network must also be transferred. The ANC allowed 18 months for the divestitures and provided for independent monitoring. [1]

La Nación reported on September 17 that Metrotel planned to use the Tuenti brand for these customers and that no definitive agreement had yet been filed. The commercial branding and transfer price are not confirmed by a public contract in the sources reviewed. Metrotel, previously focused on business and wholesale fiber, would have to expand into mass-market service, billing and customer support. The next verifiable steps are submission of the agreement to the authority and actual execution of the transfers; clearing the buyer alone establishes neither outcome. [3]

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