Questions are growing about the requests made by the US in exchange for reaching October without incident. What happens with the document and the ENaCom role
By Claudio Mardones
13/04/2023 – 08,09hs
After three years of efforts and a final postponement of eight months, President Alberto Fernández was able to hold a high-level bilateral meeting with his American counterpart Joe Biden two weeks ago. At the meeting, the host promised to financially support the guest so that he reaches the end of his term without the impact of the drought, the war in Ukraine, the debt with the IMF and the lack of dollars further weaken their future. The big question that continues to hover is: What did the United States ask for in return?
The bilateral was held on March 30. Only two weeks have passed and since then the unconfirmed versions of a series of demands from Washington that the Fernández government should respect have resounded with more force. One of them would be determined to prevent the bidding for the 5G service allow the multinational of Chinese origin Huawei to provide technology to the companies that win this certification. The pressure on this gang is part of a battery of alleged claims that would include curbing China’s influence in the business of the Waterway, in fishing exploitation, in the construction of an Antarctic port in Tierra del Fuego, in the purchase of a reactor Hualong for the Atucha III nuclear power plant and in the cancellation of the purchase intentions of Chinese aircraft to replace the Mirage III ships.
As reported by iProfessional, the National Communications Entity (ENaCom) is in charge of regulating the 5G spectrum. When it is tendered, it is expected that the three big telcos will buy the bid: Telefónica, Telecom and Claro. The North American proposal is that they cannot access Huawei technology and, according to diplomatic sources and the Palacio de Hacienda, the decision has already been made to guarantee that all 5G technology providers chosen by the winners of the tender can participate.
However, at ENaCom times are stretching. First they talked about March and the board did not meet. The most conservative forecast was for April and the delay raises questions about a possible delay to contain US pressure and Chinese concerns about being left out. This week a voice from the agency was encouraged to speak publicly. The vice president of the entity, Gustavo Lopezexplained that they are “waiting for the indication from the Executive Branch of what is the basis of the auction to vote on it in the directory and call a spectrum auction,” he said in reference to the bidding.
In search of the balance point
In dialogue with Radio Perfil, he confirmed that it is the only topic of debate. “We are looking for a point of balance between what the spectrum is worth and what the investment implies. The objective of the Government and Enacom is to vote on it in the next board of directors in April. In addition, it is necessary to see what will be the mechanism of these 300 MHz and how much each block would cost,” the official explained. In his words there are no direct mentions of the tensions between Washington and Beijing over the Argentine telecommunications market.
For López, the ball is in the court of the Casa Rosada and the Ministry of Economy. A part of the mystery could begin to be revealed this Friday with the visit of the US Undersecretary of State, Wendy Sherman, who will arrive in Buenos Aires this Thursday to follow the management of the issues discussed at the bilateral Fernández – Biden. Official party sources confided that the agenda that the diplomat will follow will be to expedite soft loans for 3 billion dollars from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Andean Development Corporation. But they will also talk about support for the Fund, a package of mining investments, the acceleration of negotiations for the return of Argentina to the General System of Preferences (SGP) and the export to the United States of pharmaceuticals from the national industry. The 5G tender does not appear in the list.
What happens with the 5G tender after the Alberto-Biden summit
In the Chancellery they relativized the versions about the United States claims. “The interpretations about China have been overdrawn after the summit, Washington does not want Argentina to be debited at a time when Brazil is getting closer to Beijing faster,” analyzed a government source in dialogue with iProfessional. “The government’s position is the third classic position of Peronism: to privilege the national interest and take advantage of multilateralism for the benefit of Argentina without a single alignment in the politics of the great powers,” said an official from the San Martín Palace to tone down the demands. .
Whether or not they are part of a list of priorities, the 5G tender is the closest point in the short timeline that will imply the scope of the meeting of presidents in Washington. Fernández is going through the last eight months of his mandate and the specifications to auction the exploitation of that frequency could generate an income for the State of 1,000 million dollars, which would go to reinforce the reserves of the Central Bank, wherever they come from. The acid test will be the final decision ofthe ENaCom in the publication of the statement, although it is very difficult for the issue to be foreign to the agenda that Sherman will have in Buenos Aires.
