Impact on the Argentine Communications Entity

On March 24, 2020, the Resolution No. 303/2020 of the Argentine Communications Entity (ENACOM, after its acronym in Spanish) was published in the Official Gazette. It established the exemption for the telecommunications companies (included in the list of essential activities provided by Decree no. 297/2020 and amending decrees) to fulfill their legal, regulatory and contractual obligations regarding the effective provision of their services to clients and users, where it is not possible to follow the Special recommendations for the telecommunication industry provided in Provision No. 3/2020 of the Superintendence of Labor Risks (SRT, after its acronym in Spanish).

The following are some of the recommendations provided in Provision (SRT) 3/2020: (i) to prevent workers from entering customers' homes, (ii) to implement troubleshooting methods that do not involve access to the customer's homes, (iii) to minimize exposure between emergency team members, (iv) to verbally perform equipment repairs outside the customer's homes, so that the customer handles the facilities inside, (v) in case of an extreme need and urgency, the worker must be required to sanitize before entering the home and after leaving.

Additionally, the Resolution No. 303/2020 established in Section 2 the complete suspension of customer service and, consequently, the closure of all commercial offices of Information and Communications Technologies Services (ICT) licensee companies. They must implement an electronic system for commercial attention and emergency claims. In this regard, the ICT Services licensees are exempt from fulfilling their legal, regulatory and contractual duties regarding the effective provision of services to clients and users, in cases in which procedure requires physical presence of users and clients.

Subsequently, on May 26, 2020, Resolution No. 461/2020 of the ENACOM was published in the Official Gazette. Resolution No. 461 repeals Section 2 of Resolution 303/2020. Consequently, those providers of fixed or mobile telephony services, Internet and cable TV, through radio or satellite link, may request authorization for the opening of their commercial premises from the corresponding national and/or provincial authorities, they must have the prior approval of the provincial health authority, and indicate the protocol to be implemented for the operation of the activity; all in accordance with the provisions of Section 3, 4 and 5 of the Decree No. 459/2020. These sections details the guidelines to be followed by the authorities to grant authorizations, divided between: a) Localities of up to five hundred thousand inhabitants; b) Localities whose number of inhabitants is more than five hundred thousand inhabitants, except the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA); and c) The Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires respectively.

The resolutions issued by ENACOM are effective for the term of the "social, preventive and mandatory isolation" established by Decree No. 297/2020; that is, from March 20, 2020 up to and including October 25, 2020 (according to the extension established by Decree 792/2020 ). Such period may be extended for the time considered necessary.