• The project will help expand digital infrastructure to offer more services and a better connectivity quality.

IDB Invest provided a $300 million financial package to Telecom Argentina to continue promoting the development of the telecommunications sector in the country and finance part of the company’s strategic investment plan to deploy 4G network and provide better quality of connectivity throughout the country.

The financing, which has a tenor of seven years, will help expand and convert the fixed copper networks into fiber or hybrid fiber-coaxial networks, to enhance the fixed broadband services of Fibertel and cable television through Cablevisión.

These improvements will contribute to achieving specific and intersectoral advances of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is expected that this transaction will potentially contribute to three of these objectives: decent work and economic development (SDG 8); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); and partnerships to achieve the goals (SDG 17).

The development of the digital economy and the narrowing of the digital divide depend on the availability of infrastructure of information and communication technologies. In Argentina, the number of broadband subscribers is expected to increase from 8 million in 2018 to 10 million in 2022. The quality of the service is essential to meet this increase in data consumption.

About IDB Invest
IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, is a multilateral development bank committed to promoting the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector. IDB Invest finances sustainable enterprises and projects to achieve financial results that maximize economic, social and environmental development for the region. With a portfolio of assets of $12.1 billion under management and 329 clients in 21 countries, IDB Invest works across sectors to provide innovative financial solutions and advisory services that meet the needs of its clients.

About Telecom Argentina
Telecom is a convergent connectivity solutions company that arises from the integration of two large Argentine companies: Telecom and Cablevisión. It offers fixed and mobile telephones, data transmission, cable television and Internet services for individuals, companies and governments throughout the country. It also provides mobile service in Paraguay and cable television in Uruguay. With the objective of leveraging its ambitious investment plan, the company achieved the support of the international market through various financing agreements. In recent months, it has announced a line of credit for up to $450 million with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an institution of the World Bank Group for the private sector, and another for up to $96 million guaranteed by the official export credit agency of Finland, Finnvera plc.