Personal Launches 3G Area in Downtown Buenos Aires

Personal, the mobile unit of Argentine telecoms operator Telecom Argentina, has launched a 3G service area in capital Buenos Aires, the company said in a statement.

The initial area includes Microcentro, Recoleta and Puerto Madero districts, while by the end of the year Personal expects to expand coverage to other areas in the Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario provinces, the company said.

The launch is part of a 500mn-peso (US$162mn) investment program announced by the company last November in order to offer 3G services across the country.

Among the services available are videoconferencing, multimedia downloads, email and instant messaging services at higher speeds.

Personal also launched a mobile broadband service called "3G Connect" that enables users to access high speed broadband from a laptop using a PC card.

"Personal is the second operator to launch this service in South America after Entel in Chile," Signals Consulting VP Juan Gnius told BNamericas.

Gnius said the availability of the service is limited although the company expects to expand coverage. The analyst considered the service will be initially oriented to the high-income segment as the cost of mobile devices to use 3G services is still high."

Posted to the site on 21st May 2007