LatinNews Daily - 25 August 2020

* Argentina’s major telecommunications companies have issued a statement branding as “unnecessary and unjustified” a government decree which implements a tariff freeze on internet, cable television, and telephone services until the end of the year. On 21 August, President Alberto Fernández’s government issued a decree of urgent necessity (DNU) which determined that information and communications technologies (ICT) are essential and strategic public services, and put a freeze on the tariffs of these services until 31 December. President Fernández says the measure will help guarantee universal access to the internet. But major telecoms companies, including Claro, Telefónica, Directv, Telecentro, and Telecom, have lamented the government’s unilateral decision, arguing that the implementation of such a measure warranted discussion between all involved, and that it will not help the government’s aim of reaching 100% internet coverage. The statement, also signed by various chambers of commerce, notes that the ICT sector relies on competition to expand its services, and asks that the government consider revoking the DNU.

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