The Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (''National Telecommunications Enterprise'', mostly known for its acronym ENTel) was an Argentine

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

which had the monopoly on public telecommunications in the country. Originally set-up in 1956 during the government of ''de facto'' President

Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Silveti (May 21, 1903 – June 1, 1970) was an Argentine Army general and the ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 1955 to 1958. He was a major figure behind the ''Revolución Libertadora'', the military coup against J ...

after the

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

of all the assets and services of the private companies that had operated Argentina's telephone services until that point carried out by

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

.HISTORIA DE LOS TELEFÓNICOS. 1948: la nacionalización de los teléfonos
by Soledad Domenichetti and Sabrina Mormandi at ''La Izquierda Diario'', 20 March 2017 In 1990, the company was liquidated under the

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

's administration that privatised most of public services and companies in the country, with Telecom and

Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...

taking over the telephone services previously managed by ENTel.

History

In 1946, the Government of Argentina acquired the "Compañía Unión Telefónica del Río de la Plata" that managed the entire

telecommunications industry The telecommunications industry within the sector of information and communication technology comprises all telecommunication/ telephone companies and Internet service providers, and plays a crucial role in the evolution of mobile communications ...

in the country, subsequently creating the "Empresa Mixta Telefónica Argentina" (EMTA) that mixed state-owned and private investments. Nevertheless president of Argentina

dissolved the mixed society therefore EMTA became a whole state-owned company through decree nº 8.104. The company was renamed "Teléfonos del Estado" in 1949. During the following decade, based on the financing of the national State, the service expanded significantly, with the installation of new lines and local exchanges, and the integration of the network, through new trunk lines. On this structure, in 1956, under the government of ''

Revolución Libertadora The ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress of Ar ...

'', "Empresa Nacional de Teléfonos" (''State Telephones'') or "ENTel" was established through decree nº 310. The company provided

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

, and

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using electrical cable, cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimenta ...

services. ENTel oversaw an expansion and modernisation of the country's telecommunications, but with arrival of the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

of 1976-83 began a period of stagnation which had an adverse effect on the quality of service and on waiting lists for service and repairs, to the point that to get a phone line had to wait up to 15 years. The

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...

administration attempted to modernize and expand service at ENTel with the Megatel plan, though the effort was ultimately hampered by the company's financial difficulties, which included losses of half a million

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

daily, and debts of over US$370 million.''Clarín''. February 12, 1989. Access to telephone service in Argentina remained low in comparison with nations of similar income level, with around 3.5 million lines for 8.5 million households, as well as antiquated, as seven out of eight units were rotary phones.''Argentina: From Insolvency to Growth''. World Bank Press, 1993. The company, in 1990, was among the first proposed for privatization during the government of President

Privatization

Fixed-phone-subscriptions-per-100-people-argentina-1975-1999

ENTel was privatised by being split into two companies: ''Sociedad Licenciataria Norte S.A.'' and ''Sociedad Licenciataria Sur S.A.''. These, in turn, were sold to

France Télécom Orange S.A. (; formerly , stylised as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation founded in 1988 and headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris. ''Orange'' has been the corporation' ...

and Telefónica de España (both

State enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

s themselves, at the time) during a 1990 bidding process presided over by Menem's appointed receiver,

María Julia Alsogaray María Julia Alsogaray (October 8, 1942 – September 24, 2017) was an Argentine politician and engineer convicted in 2004 for financial crimes against the state. Biography The second of three children of socialite Edith Gay and conservative poli ...

. Upon their transfer, these entities became known as

Telecom Argentina Telecom Argentina S.A. is the major local telephone company for the northern part of Argentina, including the whole of the city of Buenos Aires. Briefly known as ''Sociedad Licenciataria Norte S.A.'', it quickly changed its name, and is usually kn ...

and Telefónica de Argentina, respectively. The total value of the sale reached US$7.3 billion, and included the retirement of US$5 billion in foreign debt. Purchasing a divided national phone market along roughly equal sides of a north-south line, each company was given an initial, 7 year monopoly beginning November 8, 1990. At the same time, other companies were given exclusive licences for international long distance,

telex Telex is a telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communica ...

and cellular phone service. ENTel remained in existence for a number of years as a residuary body, running off existing contracts and completing the details of its sale.

References

External links

{{Argentine government Telecommunications companies of Argentina Telecommunications companies established in 1956 Telecommunications companies disestablished in 1990 Argentine companies established in 1956 1990 disestablishments in Argentina