The Government announced that it would review the purchase of Telefónica by the Clarín Group due to a "possible monopoly"
Following the announcement that Telefónica would sell its operations in Argentina to Telecom, theNational Government announced that the transaction will be investigated for the possible formation of a monopoly. President Javier Milei announced the intervention of the National Communications Agency (ENACOM) and the National Commission for the Defense of Competition (CNDC) to analyze the case in which Grupo Clarín would be involved.
Through an official statement from the Office of the President , the national leader declared: “This acquisition would leave approximately 70% of telecommunications services in the hands of a single economic group, which would generate a monopoly formed thanks to decades of state benefits that said company received .” In this regard, he announced that the Government “will take all pertinent measures to avoid the creation of a monopoly.”
According to the president, the Executive Branch "is committed to avoiding the formation of a new monopoly created in light of decades of state benefits." "It would go against free competition and encourage the disinflationary process that Argentina is going through ," they said, adding: "The Government lowered inflation in the telecommunications segment from 15.6% in December 2023 to 2.3% in January of this year, and is determined to continue on this path."
— Office of the President (@OPRArgentina) February 24, 2025
«The National Government will take all measures to guarantee the right of choice of users, free competition and accessibility of all telecommunications services», concluded Javier Milei. Likewise, ENACOM supported the president's announcement and anticipated the revisions that would be made to the transaction: «ENAMOC reports that the current regulatory framework establishes a control system over the transfers, assignments and acquisitions of ICT service licenses».
According to Telefónica, Telecom bought its assets in Argentina for 1.245 billion dollars. Among the other interested parties to acquire the operations were DirecTV, Telecentro, Liberty Global, Claro and Alpha Media. Now, Telecom would be in charge of the Flow brands, cable TV and streaming, Movistar, Movistar TV, Personal, Tuenti and Telefónica.
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