Telecom Argentina Sells 6 Million Customers

ARGENTINA · TELECOMS

Telecom Argentina has agreed to sell about 6 million mobile customers to Metrotel, a local fibre operator, for US$450 million. Its board accepted the offer on Wednesday 14 October, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Antitrust regulators ordered the sale as the price of Telecom’s US$1.245 billion takeover of the Argentine unit of Spain’s Telefónica, which runs Movistar. The deal lands as US funds Blackstone and Riverwood Capital sell Metrotel to Argentine and American investors.

What Telecom Argentina Agreed to Sell

Telecom Argentina is the phone, internet and pay-TV group behind the Personal brand, and its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange. It reported the board decision to the CNV, Argentina’s securities regulator, and filed an English version with the SEC the same day.

The buyer is CPS Comunicaciones, the company that trades as Metrotel, which the competition tribunal had first approved as purchaser. Telecom Argentina’s board then resolved to accept the offer and complete the transfer, the filing says.

Metrotel receives mobile and home internet subscribers, rights to use radio spectrum and the core of the Movistar unit’s network. It also gains rights over the fibre-to-the-home network built in the city of Buenos Aires, according to the filing.

Under the antitrust order, the package must hold at least 6 million mobile customers, 4 million of them in greater Buenos Aires. It must also include 211,400 home internet subscribers in 28 localities of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Neuquén and Río Negro.

The price is US$450 million plus value-added tax, to be paid in instalments, the filing says. Part of it is a guaranteed minimum under a framework deal for the two companies to share network infrastructure.

That framework covers shared radio networks, roaming and joint use of masts and other passive infrastructure. Telecom will also provide transitional services and license Movistar’s Tuenti brand to Metrotel in Argentina.

Why Regulators Forced the Sale

Telecom Argentina bought Telefónica Móviles Argentina, the Spanish group’s local arm, on 24 February 2025 for US$1.245 billion. The takeover joined two of the country’s three big mobile operators, leaving Claro, owned by Mexico’s América Móvil, as the main rival.

On 21 March 2025, the Economy Ministry’s Secretariat of Industry and Trade ordered Telecom Argentina to keep the two businesses apart for now. Telecom Argentina won a court appeal against that order in June 2025, but the antitrust review ran on for another year.

On 17 June 2026, the competition tribunal approved the takeover on condition that Telecom hand customers, spectrum and network assets to an independent buyer. The tribunal belongs to the National Competition Authority, the antitrust agency that replaced the old competition commission in November 2025.

The authority then cleared Metrotel as the buyer before Telecom’s board accepted the offer on Wednesday. The next step is to file the final agreement with the authority, La Nación reported.

Enacom, Argentina’s communications regulator, must still authorise the spectrum transfer, Infobae reported. The final contracts and the network-sharing agreements also remain to be signed.

Who Owns Metrotel Now

Metrotel has so far sold fibre links to companies and other carriers over more than 8,000 kilometres of its own network. The deal takes it into the consumer market under the Tuenti name, La Nación and Ámbito reported.

US investment firms Blackstone and Riverwood Capital have owned all of Metrotel since December 2017, when they paid US$190 million. Infobae reported on Friday 9 October that both firms are selling out.

The new majority owner, with 51%, is Nippur Fiber Holdings, formed by Argentine investors Luis María Blaquier and Sebastián Caputo. Both have worked with Lone Star, a US private equity fund, according to Infobae and Ámbito.

The other 49% goes to Beacon, an investment vehicle of US businessman Ralph Booth, who chairs the media and telecoms investor Booth American Company. Sources quoted by La Nación said the new owners hold no stake in Argentina’s mobile market, so the competition approval still stands.

What It Means for You

For investors holding Telecom Argentina’s New York-listed shares, the deal turns a forced sale into US$450 million in staggered payments. It also moves the antitrust case over the Movistar purchase, open since early 2025, close to its end.

For Argentine mobile users, Metrotel is on course to become the country’s third operator beside Telecom and Claro, Infobae has reported. Its arrival restores a third national competitor after Telecom’s takeover of Movistar left only two.

Customers picked for the transfer must be told by Telecom Argentina’s Movistar unit as soon as possible, Infobae reported, citing the board minutes. They keep their numbers, contracts, unused prepaid credit and current promotions, according to the same report.

Foreigners in Buenos Aires with a Movistar line should watch for that notice, since most of the transferred lines are in the capital region. Not every Movistar customer moves, and the rest stay with Telecom Argentina.

What Is Not Known

The payment schedule for the US$450 million has not been made public, nor has the share that counts as the guaranteed minimum. The exact spectrum bands going to Metrotel have not been disclosed either.

No date has been set for signing the final contracts or for Enacom’s decision on the spectrum. The price Blackstone and Riverwood receive for Metrotel has not been published.

It is also unclear which Movistar customers will be selected for the transfer. Metrotel sought to avoid lines that are inactive or behind on payments, Ámbito reported.

More: Argentina news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is Metrotel paying Telecom Argentina?

Metrotel will pay US$450 million plus value-added tax, in instalments, under the offer Telecom’s board accepted on 14 October. Part of that sum is a guaranteed minimum under a deal to share network infrastructure.

Why is Telecom Argentina selling 6 million customers?

Argentina’s competition tribunal made the sale a condition when it approved Telecom’s takeover of Telefónica’s local unit in June 2026. Telecom had bought that business, which runs the Movistar brand, in February 2025 for US$1.245 billion.

What happens to the Movistar customers who are transferred?

They move to Metrotel, which will run the mobile business under the Tuenti brand. Infobae reported that they keep their numbers, contracts, prepaid credit and promotions.

Who owns Metrotel?

Argentine investors Luis María Blaquier and Sebastián Caputo take 51% through Nippur Fiber Holdings, and US businessman Ralph Booth’s Beacon takes 49%. The US firms Blackstone and Riverwood Capital, owners since December 2017, are selling out.

Is Telecom Argentina listed in the United States?

Yes, its American depositary shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker TEO. The company filed an English version of its notice on the Metrotel deal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 14 October.

Sources: Telecom Argentina, Form 6-K (US SEC), 14 October 2026; Telecom Argentina, Form 6-K on the antitrust remedy (US SEC), 18 June 2026; Telecom Argentina, annual report on Form 20-F (US SEC), 11 March 2026; La Nación, 14 October 2026; Ámbito, 14 October 2026; Infobae, 15 October 2026; Infobae, 9 October 2026; El Cronista, 9 October 2026.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

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