An agreement of intent was made yesterday that was under a confidentiality clause, signed between Arsat and global operator Hughes that would give rise to a new company, Newco, whose purpose is to commercialize the capacity of the future Arsat 3. Hughes would have 51% of the shares of the new company and the rest would be state-owned Arsat, which could also be opened to other shareholders.

The disclosure and dissemination of the 7-page document and an annex, will generate drawbacks between those who subscribed and an intense institutional and political debate.

A version of the document in English was revealed last night in the digital medium El Destape, led by Roberto Navarro, and was announced in the tv program "Political Economy". The opinions and opinions expressed in television were confusing.

The text of the agreement states that the two companies, through Newco, will start a "broadband" satellite business when Arsat 3 (planned for 2020 or a year later) is in operation. It specifies that the device will be manufactured by Invap at a cost of US $ 230 million, and Thales Alenia Space will be the payload supplier, as was done with satellites Arsat 1 and 2.

Arsat 3 will operate at Ka and Ku bands from the space orbit that has not yet been agreed by Argentina with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), but has been managed for approximately three years.

The document of intent, signed on June 29, specifies that Arsat will provide the satellite and Hughes with all fiber optic and data center services in national territory. Meanwhile Hughes will own the land operation and will invest some US $ 50 million in equipment for the provision of satellite service, such as Gateways, Vsat antennas and other elements needed to reach the end customer.

Hughes Argentina would keep 25% of the capacity of Arsat 3 in band Ka (a kind of pre-sale). The marketing of the rest would be handled by Newco, whose majority shareholder is Hughes and will prevail when appointing directors and management of the company. The profits generated by Newco will be distributed proportionally.

Law 27.208, approved by the Congress in 2015, fixes the satellite policy until 2030 to be executed by Arsat. It determines that the shares of the company can not be sold if it is not with the approval of the parliament. The association figure set forth in the document that would give rise to Newco, would be a gambeta to the established in the law.

A possible "advance sale of Arsat 3 capacity" was announced by the president of the company Arsat, Rodrigo de Loredo in the interview Convergencia made last December (see Atlas and Yearbook, December 2016).

In early 2016, Loredo and Arsat Vice President Henoch Aguiar had met with Hughes in the United States during an annual industry event. That would have been the beginning of the relationship and subsequent negotiation whose colophon is this agreement of intention.