Argentina: Seeking ‘Quadruple Play’, Clarín buys Nextel

Argentina’s powerful media group ‘Clarín’, through its subsidiary Cablevisión, has completed the purchase of 100% of Nextel Argentina, which will allow the media giant to offer Argentine consumers ‘Quadruple play’ services, which include telephone, mobile, broadband and cable services. Clarín will also try to reposition Nextel into the country’s telephone landscape by exploiting its 3G and 4G networks.

Cablevisión bought 49% of Nextel back in September 2015, with an option to buying the remainder. The total has now risen to $165 million dollars, with an additional $13 million to be paid at an unspecified time.

The purchase represents a readjustment by Grupo Clarín as it reacts to a rapidly changing legal framework in the wake of the arrival of a new administration, led by Presiden Mauricio Macri, who issued a wide-ranging decree affecting the telecommunications sector. The new rules give Clarín a clear advantage over its competitors in the telephone business, who have been barred from offering cable and broadband services for at least two more years.

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