An INDEC report on Access and use of information and communication technologies (Technical Reports. Vol. 4, No. 83: Science and Technology. Vol. 4, No. 1) of the last quarter of 2019 shows that 84 out of every 100 people in Argentina have a cell phone and 80 out of 100 use the internet, but only 60 out of 100 have a computer. In addition, the report shows that the higher the level of education, the greater the access to the internet. Of the people with completed primary school, 57,7% access the Internet but only 11,7% have a computer, while among those with a university education, the numbers rise to 95,4% in Internet access and 71,8% have a computer.
The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, with the exception of Chile, occupy the bulk at the bottom of the ranking of the 65 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in which Argentina is in the position 47 in relation to the development of its broadband. According to him 2018 report of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is among the top 10 countries of the 26 in Latin America and the Caribbean. The most important differences between regions are found in the analytical pillars "infrastructures" and "Public Policies". The report highlights the relationship between the economic development of the countries and their development in terms of electronic communications and connectivity, estimating that an average increase of 10% in broadband penetration in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean caused a rise 3,19% of GDP and 2,61% of productivity. In addition, it highlights the increasing dependence on ICTs that the public and private sectors of education, health and productive development have; This dependency is evident in the framework of the health crisis caused by Covid-19. The deficit in terms of telecommunications infrastructure acquired even more notoriety due to the extraordinary situation brought about by the pandemic and which forced the transfer of daily activities to the digital sphere, leaving out those who do not have access.
The relevance of the issue in the Argentine National Congress is reflected in the volume of bills that focus on Internet access. Of the total of 2020 bills collected by the CELE's Legislative Observatory until October (16 in total), eight of them focus on Internet access. Half of the bills seek economic regulation, defining Internet as a public service, essential, strategic , as a human right, and establishing the free data traffic for specific purposes.
Regarding public policies aimed at guaranteeing internet access, one of the most relevant examples at the national level in the last decade was the 2010 National Telecommunications Plan Argentina Conectada. The plan was a set of policies that integrated different initiatives in ICT, from the deployment of digital terrestrial television, the improvement in the management of communications between the different government areas, to the delivery of laptops in educational institutions and the deployment of infrastructure, among others, in order to expand the Argentine network of information and communication technologies and narrow the digital divide.
Its main objectives were to reduce the cost of broadband services in the country, increase coverage and improve service quality, with special emphasis on those more isolated areas of less interest to private sector operators. To this end, it envisaged the development of a Federal Fiber Optic Network (REFEFO), the establishment of a national network access point (NAP) and provincial NAPs operated by Arsat, and the use of the Service Fund Universal, with the goal that all households in the country have internet access by 2015. However, for the limit year a significantly lower number of kilometers had been built compared to those declared in the Plan's objectives (6.800 of the 36.000 kilometers proposed) and network sections were built in areas that were already served by private operators. Regarding the construction of national and provincial NAPs, the objective was not specified in a clear and concrete way (numbers, location, etc. are not declared), making it difficult to measure the effectiveness of the Plan. What was planned was that they be built for 2015, but to date what was built within the framework of the plan was the datacenter in Benavídez, Buenos Aires.
The provincial NAPs were not built either. Consequently, the only NAPs that exist in Argentina are private. Regarding the third objective of the Plan, the different experts consulted, including former officials who participated in the Argentina Conectada plan, agree that the funds were disconnected from the program except for the initiative linked to educational establishments, of which there is not too much official information regarding its implementation. In this sense, Argentina shares a general characteristic of these plans in Latin America, which is the lack of articulation of national broadband plans with this type of funds.
The analysis of some aspects of the national plan can be read in the investigation of Verónica Ferrari for the CELE (2016) “Internet access in Argentina. Lessons learned from the Argentina Conectada plan ". There, lessons arose from the Connected Argentina Program that could contribute to the design of public policies to be adopted in Argentina in order to promote greater and better access to the Internet at the national level. Lessons learned revolve around objectives, timelines, supervision and control, budget and monitoring, and multi-sector participation.
On August 21, Argentine President Alberto Fernández signed the Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) 690/2020, which applies modifications to the Law No. 27.078 (known as the “Argentine Digital Law”), which considers the UN recommendations on the relevance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for the development of a more egalitarian society and the importance that all people are guaranteed their access to them. The DNU came to settle a debate that was already underway in Congress and that technically should have been resolved in said forum. Notwithstanding this, the DNU raises access to the internet as one of the essential rights that everyone possesses for the purpose of exercising and enjoying the right to freedom of expression. From this framework, Article 1 of DNU 690/2020 establishes that “Information Technology and Communications Services (ICT) and access to telecommunications networks for and between licensees of ICT services they are essential and strategic public services in competition. The enforcement authority (ENACOM) will guarantee its effective availability ”.
Four days after the presidential DNU, ENACOM authorities denounced that in Argentina there are 5 million homes without internet and they agreed that inequality in access to communications cannot be ignored. So, What does it mean that the internet is a public service? How is the arrival of the internet guaranteed to all homes in the country? Although the decree advances in the recognition of internet access as a right, it says little about what policies the State will take to guarantee the provision of said service and its territorial expansion.
In September, President Alberto Fernandez presented at the ARSAT headquarters the new Connected Argentina Plan 2020-2023 and on October 13, authorities of the Executive Branch presented some peculiarities of the Plan to the Commission on Systems, Media and Freedom of Expression of the Senate of the Nation. At the meeting, Micaela Sánchez Malcom, Secretary of Public Innovation, Martín Olmos, Undersecretary of Information and Communication Technologies, Nestor Pablo Tognetti, president of ARSAT and Gonzalo Carbajal, General Coordinator of the Advisory Council of the Argentine Digital Television System spoke. Radio and Television Argentina SE, among others. Some data mentioned and to highlight are:
- The four central axes of the Plan: the Argentine Satellite System, the National Data Center (CND), the Federal Fiber Optic Network (REFEFO), Open Digital Television (TDA). Investments will be made in the 4 mentioned axes.
- Regarding REFEFO, 4.408 km of fiber optics will be built to reach 38.808 km illuminated in 2023. The current penetration would be 63%. With REFEFO 3, 490 thousand people will join the fiber optic network and it is estimated that by 2023, 22 million people in Argentina will be connected to the Federal Fiber Optic Network.
- The National Data Center will be revalued to improve and expand the State's cloud services, in addition to updating the back up and generator sets.
- ARSAT-SG1 will be built and launched in the first half of 2023, a satellite that will provide high-quality satellite connectivity to 200 rural households in Argentina. This new generation satellite will have a higher payload than ARSAT 1 and 2.
- 3 framework agreements were signed with the provinces of Entre Ríos, San Juan (to incorporate 600 km of fiber and 24 nodes) and Tierra del Fuego, where there was only one wholesale supplier and through the agreement with ARSAT 5 towns in the province will be illuminated with fiber optics to improve the province's internet quality and competence. They are also working on framework agreements with the provinces of Rio Negro, La Pampa, Neuquén and Santa Cruz.
- In relation to open digital television, an effort will be made to improve the transmission system through investment. In this sense, 100 transmission stations will be updated and recovered. In addition, the Advisory Council of the Argentine Digital Television System. Radio and Television Argentina will articulate with ENACOM and the Ministry of Public Innovation the “analog blackout” or “digital ignition” for August 2021 (although it was initially planned to take place in 2019). 10 million households will have access to a quality TV service.
Attentive to the new Argentina Connected 2020-2023 plan, we share below some of the lessons learned that CELE has detected in 2016 as a result of the detailed analysis of the 2010 national plan.
- Regarding the objectives: As indicated by the Ibero-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunications Companies, the goals of these plans, although with a certain degree of ambition, must be realistic, since the establishment of unviable goals has a negative impact on the plan as it affects its credibility and that of the agents involved.
- Regarding the implementation: The design of the plans must foresee viable deadlines for implementation. The implementation of Argentina Conectada occurred with delays in terms. The General Auditor of the Nation indicated in different instances during the execution delays in the works and irregularities in the bids. Although the consultation with the different sectors involved reveals the importance of laying a national federal network, representatives of both the private sector and former officials involved in putting together the plan agree that its impact on improving the quality of service or the price of home service as long as the network is not working. Five years after its inception, the backbone network was not yet operational, nor had the goals for new connected locations been reached. Neither were the objectives for the construction of national or provincial access points achieved. On the other hand, future studies should delve into the impact that the network (or the announcement of its laying) had on interconnection prices, while another of the declared objectives was to amend the disparity in costs, mainly in the interior of the country. .
- Regarding the audit and access to information: the fulfillment of these objectives that we mentioned before should be monitored during the implementation of this type of plans. The development of indicators and the regular publication of easily accessible official information are key elements. The implementation of Argentina Conectada was marked by the lack of public information on the progress of the plan. Although the plan provided mechanisms for monitoring progress, the information was not available during implementation. The only accessible management report was the one published in 2012 that evaluates the first year. Access to public information is key to measuring the implementation of these plans. In addition, in order to exercise this right of access to information, policies that promote access to infrastructure and quality internet connectivity are essential.
- Regarding the Universal Service Fund: the collection and execution problems of the Universal Service Fund exceed (and precede) the Argentina Conectada plan. The Fund was practically not executed since its formation in 2001, and the lack of transparency in its use persisted in the 2010-2015 period. During the implementation of the Argentina Conectada plan, only resources from the Fund were used for connection programs to educational establishments.
If the use of this type of funds is planned, it should in all cases be part of a transparent and participatory process, incorporating the vision of the various actors involved. Participation can only be ensured through active transparency, for example, through the publication and dissemination of regular reports to measure their use against clearly set objectives.
- Regarding multisectoral participation: The viability and legitimacy of this type of initiative largely depends on the multisectoral participation that characterizes them. The spaces for participation originally envisaged in the Plan Argentina Conectada 2010 (which included government representatives, Congress, universities, trade union representatives, telecommunications operators, software developers, civil society, among others) were never put into practice.
The deficit in terms of communications infrastructure in Argentina must be addressed in an urgent and effective way. This reality must be settled through a state intervention that allows the effective and universal enjoyment of the benefits of access to telecommunications and information throughout the territory. There is both at the international, regional and national levels a more detailed analysis of what access to the internet means as a right or as a means to exercise rights. This access is not merely a connection. The UN Rapporteurship for freedom of opinion and expression noted that “States must adopt effective and concrete policies and strategies, developed in consultation with members of all segments of society, including the private sector, as well as relevant government ministries, so that the Internet is widely available and accessible and affordable for everyone ”. The Office of the Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression of the OAS in its 2013 report “(…) Actions must be taken to progressively promote universal access not only to infrastructure, but also to the technology necessary for its use and to the greatest possible amount of information available on the Internet; eliminate arbitrary barriers to access to infrastructure, technology and information online; and adopt positive differentiation measures to allow the effective enjoyment of this right to individuals or communities that require it due to their circumstances of marginalization or discrimination ”.
In pursuit of an effective application of public policies, the review of the lessons learned in previous experiences is a necessary condition. The intervention must have viable objectives, be of a legitimate nature through the possibility of monitoring and access to public information, and be transparent regarding the use of funds. It must have the participation of a plurality of actors from all the sectors involved. Avoiding mistakes from the past will allow the implementation of public policies to be effective and generate the necessary changes for an improvement in internet access throughout the national territory.
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