Decree 690/2020 Now Repealed

On April 10, 2024, the Executive Branch issued Decree 302/2024, repealing Decree 690/2020 and amending certain articles of the Information and Communications Technologies Law 27078 (Digital Argentina Law).

The Decree states that Decree 690/20 had established an essential modification on the industry’s legal framework, which had to be corrected to protect the rules allowing the development of a competitive market and the free setting of service prices.

Article 1 of the Decree replaces article 48 of the Digital Argentina Law. In its new wording, the article provides that the licensees of information and communications technology services (ICT Services) will set their prices, which must be fair and reasonable, thus removing the second and third paragraphs regarding the application authority’s determination of prices and regulation of the mandatory basic universal provision.

Article 2 establishes that the Basic Telephone Service maintains its status as a public service, eliminating  the mobile telephone service as a public service in all its modalities, as was established by Decree 690/20.

On the other hand, article 3 repeals Decree 690/20 which, among others, had declared that ICT Services—regulated under the Digital Argentina Law—and access to telecommunications networks for and between ICT Service licensees were essential public services.

The Decree also repeals article 15 of the Digital Argentina Law. Prior to the modifications of Decree 690/20, this article had been repealed by Decree 267/15. This section established that ICT Services and access to telecommunications networks for and between licensees are essential and strategic public services in competition.

The grounds of Decree 302/24 state that Information and Communication Technologies represent not only a way of access to knowledge, education, information, and entertainment, but also a point of reference and a fundamental pillar for the construction of economic and social development.

Finally, the Decree highlights that, considering the public interest involved due to the nature of ICT services, it is of utmost urgency to free the market and obtain the free development of such services.