Media Agencies in Argentina (1990-2018). From sectoral agencies to a convergent authority

This article proposes to analyze, from a historical perspective, the structure and functionalities of both audiovisual and telecommunications regulatory agencies in Argentina, since 1990. The document analyzes the degree of independence of the regulatory agencies from the governments in power, and the way in which the processes of technological convergence have influenced the institutional design. It also examines the arguments referring to the benefits of unified regulators replacing sectorial agencies and the articulation of this discourse in the Argentine context. The theoretical perspective is framed in the studies of the Political Economy of Communications, which investigates the impact of state intervention as well as the social and technological transformations from the last quarter of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century in the configuration of the market of information and communications technologies.