MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine mobile phone companies have to adjust rates and charge by the second

The companies were given an additional sixty days to adjust to the new regulation

Mobile phone companies operating in Argentina will have 60 days to adjust all their rates and charge by the second, Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido and Communications Secretary Norberto Berner confirmed in a news conference. Companies Personal, Movistar and Claro will only have 15 days to implement the change for new customers according to the resolution published in the Official Gazette.

 The mobile phone companies filed an appeal to protest that they had not been given time to adapt, with the government heeding the complaint and finally specifying a deadline to comply.

Any modification to tariffs will also have to be notified to the Communications Secretariat 60 days in advance. The companies are currently charging by the minute, with any fraction completing an additional minute.

“Within the next 15 days, operators will have to include this information on their websites” Berner said.

The officials also highlighted the cooperation between his secretariat and the Domestic Trade office, headed by August Costa, revealing they are working on a joint agenda for the mobile phone sector.

The agenda includes “emergency and catastrophe protocol” and the development of a “manual for auditing with indicators of service quality,” a list-topping issue for citizens who often bemoan poor signal reception on the phones.

De Vido emphasized that the government actively “works for the de-concentration (of the sector) to avoid a monopoly from developing” and that “the user has the opportunity to choose.”

Last year, the Argentine federal government issued new communications rules mandating that mobile phone companies had to start measuring phone calls by the second. But four consumer rights groups had to carry out legal action in order to make the measure effective. The Federal Court of San Nicolás finally accepted consumer rights groups request last Friday.