Argentine-based mobile telephone operator, CTI Móvil, has filed an injunction with Argentina’s antitrust agency, the Comision Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia (CDNC), to block rival Telefónica’s proposed acquisition of Telecom Italia. Spain-based Telefónica is the largest telecommunications provider in Argentina. By acquiring Telecom Italia, Telefónica would gain a 50 percent interest in Telecom Italia’s Argentinean division (Telecom Argentina), which is currently the country’s second largest provider. CTI Móvil is concerned that the transaction if consummated would give Telefónica monopoly power in Argentina’s telecommunications market.
The government of Argentina has already begun a study of the likely effects of the transaction. In October 2007 it appointed a two-person oversight board within Telecom Argentina to determine whether Telefónica would be able to exert control over the company.