Argentine ISP to close in 90 days by Govt decision

Doctor Jonas writes: Argentine ISP Fibertel has been barred to follow up their operations because of the dissolution of their status as a company, previously being absorbed by Cablevisión of Argentina, now part of media conglomerate Grupo Clarín. The Minister of Planning Julio de Vido announced the measure, and said it was Grupo Clarín's own doing by having shut down the Fibertel company and turning it into merely a commercial brand, and that ISP licenses are not transferable after acquisitions from one company to the other. The Argentine opposition said the move was another attack into Grupo Clarín's standing and another part of the feud between them and President Cristina Fernández and her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner. Cablevisión has promised to go to the courts to overturn the decision, even with TV ads, and the opposition seeks to protect Fibertel's continuing operations through a bill in Congress. More than a million households and businesses would need to change ISPs in merely 90 days, possibly strengthening the internet provisioning dominance of both Telefónica (subsidiary of the Spanish Telefonica) and Telecom.