36171 - Telecom Personal Argentina

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Environmental & Social Review Summary

Project Number

36171

Company Name

TELECOM ARGENTINA S.A.

Date ESRS Disclosed

Jul 8, 2016

Country

Argentina

Region

Latin America and the Caribbean

Last Updated Date

Mar 13, 2025

Environmental Category

B - Limited

Status

Completed

Previous Events

Approved : Aug 5, 2016
Signed : Oct 5, 2016
Invested : Oct 26, 2016

Sector

Mobile Telephony

Industry

Telecommunications and Technology

Department

TMT, Venture Capital & Funds

Project Description

This project involves a proposed A loan by IFC of up to $100 million to Telecom Personal S.A. (“Personal” or the “company”), the mobile subsidiary of Telecom Argentina S.A., along with B loans and parallel loans of up to $400 million, to fund a project involving up to $600 million between capital expenditures for the development of the company’s 4G LTE network and other network capex, and the refinancing of certain short term debt. New infrastructure in this project will include new and improved telecommunications equipment to be installed on many of the approximately 4100 existing Personal base stations/telecommunications towers, and improvements in the backhaul connections between those sites. In addition, approximately 640 new sites per year are expected to be developed in the next 3 years.

Overview of IFC's Scope of Review

The review of this proposed investment consisted of appraisal of environmental and social (“E&S”) and technical information submitted by Personal, including documentation of Personal’s policies and procedures on human resources management, training on work-related risks, assessment of occupational hazards, fire safety, electrical risk in operational activities, prevention and control of fuel spills, medical restrictions, personal protection, and work at heights.

E & S Project Categorization and Applicable Standard

While all Performance Standards are applicable to this investment, IFCs environmental and social due diligence indicates that the investment will have impacts which must be managed in a manner consistent with the following Performance Standards. If IFCs investment proceeds, IFC will periodically review the the project’s ongoing compliance with the Performance Standards

PS 1 – Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
PS 2 - Labor and working conditions
PS 3 - Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention
If IFC’s investment proceeds, IFC will periodically review the the project’s ongoing compliance with the Performance Standards
PS4, PS5, PS6, PS7 and PS8 are not considered applicable given that no armed security guards are used in the project; any new purchased sites are expected to involve a willing buyer willing seller transaction; no operations are expected to affect biodiversity conservation or any substantial management of living natural resources and the location of any new tower site will undergo a screening process to identify whether the site is located in an ecologically sensitive area and, as needed, develop relevant mitigation measures; no Indigenous Peoples are expected to be affected; and no important cultural heritage is expected to be impacted.

The key E&S issues associated with the project are in the potential impacts of construction of telecommunications infrastructure; labor and working conditions (including employees’ and contractor workers’ occupational health and safety); and pollution prevention and abatement.

As E&S risks and impacts are expected to be limited, site-specific, and relatively few in number, and it is possible to avoid or mitigate any limited adverse impacts that might result, the proposed investment has been classified as a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability.

Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder Engagement Plan

Personal recognizes the importance of stakeholder engagement, and is committed to comply with the requirements of IFC Performance Standard 1 on disclosure and stakeholder engagement.

With regard to new sites chosen by Personal for the development in any given year, Personal participated in the elaboration of the Best Practice Code for the Mobile Network Deployment (“Codigo de Buenas Practicas para el Despliegue de Redes de Comunicaciones Moviles”) together with the Argentine Federation of Municipalities (“Federacion Argentina de Municipios”) and other Mobile Network Operators. According to such Code, Municipalities and Operators have agreed to establish a procedure in order to address concerns raised by local community members about issues such as electromagnetic fields, landscape integration, and camouflage measures.

Broad Community Support

**Information on IFC's Policy and Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability can be found at www.ifc.org/sustainability

IFC supports its clients in addressing environmental and social issues arising from their business activities by requiring its real sector clients to set up and administer appropriate grievance mechanisms and/or procedures to address complaints from Affected Communities in relation to environmental and social issues arising from IFC's clients' business activities. Since 2012, IFC's Financial Intermediary clients applying the Performance Standards are required to develop External Communications Mechanisms to receive and review inquiries or complaints from any interested party regarding the E&S risks and impacts of their operations.

For IFC projects that are active or under consideration, individual(s), or their authorized representative(s), who allege they have been or will be adversely affected by E&S risks or impacts arising from IFC's clients' business activities, may submit a complaint to IFC directly for consideration. When receiving an E&S complaint, IFC engages with complainants and works with its clients to find solutions to E&S concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Complaints can be submitted to IFC online at www.ifc.org/escomplaints or by email to EScomplaints@ifc.org.

IFC complaint response is separate from and complementary to IFC’s clients’ project level grievance mechanisms and IFC’s Independent Accountability Mechanism (CAO). Lodging a complaint directly with IFC does not, at any time, restrict access to CAO.

Affected communities have unrestricted access to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for IFC and MIGA. CAO facilitates the resolution of complaints related to IFC and MIGA projects and sub-projects, undertakes reviews of IFC’s and MIGA’s environmental and social compliance, fosters public accountability for their commitments, and enhances the environmental and social performance of IFC and MIGA.

Independent of IFC and MIGA management and reporting directly to the IFC and MIGA Boards of Executive Directors, CAO helps resolve issues raised about the environmental and social impacts of projects through a neutral, collaborative, problem-solving approach via its Dispute Resolution function. It also reviews IFC’s and MIGA’s compliance with environmental and social policies, assesses related harm, and recommends remedial actions through its Compliance function. Additionally, CAO provides advice to IFC, MIGA, and their Boards to enhance environmental and social sustainability performance and minimize the risk of harm.

Complaints may relate to environmental and social harm regarding any aspect of the planning, implementation, or impact of a project or sub-project, and can be made by any individual, group, community, entity, or other party affected or likely to be affected by the environmental or social impacts of an IFC- or MIGA-financed business activity.

Complaints can be submitted by any of the following methods:

Online form: available at https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/
Mail/Hand Delivery to: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Voice mail: +1 202 458 1973
Email: cao@worldbankgroup.org
SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal: +1 202 650 2627

CAO receives and addresses complaints in accordance with the CAO Policy, which can be accessed at: https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/policies-guidelines.

This Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) is prepared by IFC to disclose its findings and recommendations related to environmental and social considerations regarding potential investments. Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of IFC's activities. For any project documentation or data included or attached herein, whether prepared by the project sponsor or otherwise, authorization has been given for public release by the project sponsor. IFC considers that this ESRS is of adequate quality for release to the public, but has not necessarily independently verified all of the project information therein.
It is distributed in advance of IFC Board of Directors' consideration and may be periodically updated thereafter. Board dates are estimates only and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board Directors’ decision. The following ESRS is disclosed in accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy (AIP).

The map is for illustrative purposes and does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the World Bank, concerning the legal status of any country or territory or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. Country borders or names do not necessarily reflect the World Bank Group's official position. In some cases, available project location information is limited to the country of the project's activities. Locations are approximate.

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Environmental & Social Review Summary

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Overview of IFC's Scope of Review

E & S Project Categorization and Applicable Standard

Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures

Stakeholder Engagement

Broad Community Support

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Environmental & Social Review Summary

Project Description

Overview of IFC's Scope of Review

E & S Project Categorization and Applicable Standard

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Environmental and Social Categorization and Rationale

Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures

Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures

PS 1: Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts

PS 2: Labor and Working Conditions

PS 3: Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention

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