The elimination of international roaming between Chile and Argentina is contemplated for May 1. The measure will begin to be applied after the agreement reached by both nations at the last Prosur summit.

Due to this, the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel) launched a public consultation to find out the opinions of individuals and companies about the regulation created for the application of the new regulation. Which establishes a term of no more than 90 consecutive days or 120 discontinuous days, so that both Chilean and Argentine citizens can access roaming without having to pay.

In response to this query, Movistar noted that “flexibility is required and requested in the implementation of new regulatory obligations, postponing their application as long as necessary.” Given this, the Spanish company – still – argued that the health emergency prevented such application, using the example of the measures taken by the governments: quarantine, curfews, restrictions on movements, etc., to justify the situation that prevents the elimination of roaming.

“In this world crisis scenario, it would be highly inconvenient to start the implementation of a new regulatory framework for international roaming services, a service that, moreover, lacks any priority in a minute in which the countries have closed totally or partially its borders and it is not envisioned that they will reopen, at least in the short term ”, the company justified.

It should be remembered that governments are the ones who reach the agreement and facilitate the conditions of its application, but it is the telephone companies that must reach their peers in the other country to apply the technical and economic conditions between them.

Finally, Movistar assures that the efforts of the government and the private sector should be focused on the current emergency, since “distracting human, technical and financial resources that today can be of much greater use and value to sustain connectivity and the quality of service for national users, it would be, at least inopportune and reckless ”,

Subtel’s role chile argentina roaming

Within hours of the news of Movistar’s position before the regulatory body, Subtel reported that it is exchanging diplomatic notes with the neighboring country:

“Given the health crisis caused by Covid-19, the closing of the borders between Chile and Argentina and the absence of a flow of tourists, both governments are exchanging diplomatic notes to implement a new date of entry into force of the agreement for the elimination of international roaming ”

Finally, they added that they hope that users will soon be able to access this benefit every time they travel between the two countries.

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