Argentina’s state secretary for modernisation has been entrusted with the task of persuading the country’s operators to reach roaming deals to bring mobile coverage to all localities of between 500 and 10,000 inhabitants as well as main thoroughfares, reports Telesemana. A decree has been published stating that operators have up to 30 days to close “transparent” infrastructure sharing agreements and 6 months to implement them. According to the bill, the price of roaming services cannot be modified under any circumstances and the principles of healthy competition must be respected by all operators.
Argentina’s communications regulator Enacom last month announced plans to issue licences in the 450MHz band for telecommunications use in 3 new provinces – Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Tierra del Fuego – as part of a plan to boost mobile coverage in rural areas throughout the country. The National Communications Plan targets coverage of 93 percent of the population by the end of this year, including deployment in 1,713 cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants, 9,961 km of roads and 200 small localities that do yet have quality mobile internet.
