New resolution to encourage the development of Internet of Things

On September 4, 2018, the Argentine Ministry of Modernization issued Resolution No. 581/2018 declaring certain frequency bands to be of shared use of to encourage the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), defined by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the infrastructure for the provision of services through the interconnection of physical or virtual objects.

Among the recitals of the Resolution, IoT importance is highlighted, as it increases the capacity to collect, transmit, analyze and evaluate data on a mass scale. It will become increasingly important in multiple areas of the economy and will be extremely useful for different productive areas such as agriculture, health and transport.

Through public consultations conducted pursuant to Resolutions 7-E / 2017 and 2-E / 2018, participants stated that the State should not limit the use of the bands covered by this Resolution exclusively for IoT services and applications, but rather define them for fixed or mobile service use, without limiting the type of technology or service used.

In effect, while Section 1 of the Resolution declares the following frequency bands (expressed in MHz) to be shared within the Argentine territory, without the need for prior authorization for their use: 915-928, 2400-2483.5 , 5150-5250, 5250-5350, 5470-5600, 5650-5725, 5725-5850 and 57000-71000), Section 2 attributes these bands for the use of Information Technology Services (ICT Services) both fixed and mobile.

For its part, Section 3 indicates that the provision of ICT services in shared use bands requires obtaining a license for ICT Services and the registration of the corresponding service.

Sections 4 and 5 of the Resolution establish that the equipment used for the emission in bands of shared frequencies must respect the technical standards defined by the Argentine Communications Agency (ENACOM, after its acronym in Spanish). They will also observe the regulations in force regarding ionizing radiation without exceeding its limits, and be duly homologated, to avoid interfering with primary title authorized station frequencies, under penalty of suspension of emissions.

In addition, Section 7 establishes the obligation for the providers of services in the bands to notify ENACOM the geographical coordinates and height of the antennas installed for the provision of their services.

Finally, Section 10 instructs ENACOM to establish the technical parameters and modes of operation in the bands within a period of 120 days since the publication of the Resolution.