<SEC-DOCUMENT>0000950103-11-004359.txt : 20111229
<SEC-HEADER>0000950103-11-004359.hdr.sgml : 20111229
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20111019135423
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0000950103-11-004359
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20111019

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			TELECOM ARGENTINA SA
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000932470
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS (NO RADIO TELEPHONE) [4813]
		IRS NUMBER:				000000000
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		ALICIA MOREAU DE JUSTO 50
		CITY:			BUENOS AIRES
		STATE:			C1
		ZIP:			C1107AAB
		BUSINESS PHONE:		54-11-4968-4000

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		ALICIA MOREAU DE JUSTO 50
		CITY:			BUENOS AIRES
		STATE:			C1
		ZIP:			C1107AAB

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	TELECOM ARGENTINA STET FRANCE TELECOM SA
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19950809
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="right"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">October 19, 2011</font></div>

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<div><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Re: </font></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Telecom Argentina S.A. </font>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #0d0d0d; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Dear Mr. Spirgel:</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 36pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #0d0d0d; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">By letter dated September 21, 2011, you provided comments on behalf of the staff (the &#8220;<font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Staff</font>&#8221;) of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the &#8220;<font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">SEC</font>&#8221;) with respect to Telecom Argentina S.A.&#8217;s (&#8220;<font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Telecom</font>&#8221; or the &#8220;<font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Company</font>&#8221;) annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 (the &#8220;<font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Form</font> <font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">20-F</font>&#8221;). In response to the Staff&#8217;s comments and on behalf of the Company, we have provided responses to those comments and supplementary information as indicated below. The text set forth below in bold-faced type is a verbatim reproduction of the comments included in your letter. All references to page numbers in Telecom&#8217;s responses are to pages in the filed version of the Form 20-F.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #0d0d0d; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Consolidated Income Statement, page F-5</font></font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #0d0d0d; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">1. We note your response to comment one from our letter dated September 1, 2011. We are not persuaded by your argument that the presentation of&#160;&#160;&#8220;Operating income before D&amp;A&#8221; does not contradict paragraph BC 56 of IAS 1. We continue to believe that depreciation and amortization are items of an operating nature which should not be excluded from the results of operating activities, particularly in a capital intensive environment like the telecom industry. Please revise in future filings.</font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #0d0d0d; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Response</font></font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 36pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">In response to the Staff&#8217;s comment<font style="DISPLAY: inline; COLOR: #0d0d0d">, the Company agrees with the Staff that D&amp;A is an operating expense, and notes that Telecom Argentina includes D&amp;A in Operating Income on the face of its Income Statement.&#160;&#160;The Company believes that presentation of the subtotal &#8220;Operating Income before D&amp;A&#8221; does not violate the provisions of the IAS 1, which encourages the inclusion of subtotals when such presentation is relevant to understanding of entity&#8217;s financial performance.&#160;&#160;We respectfully believe that such subtotal is useful for the Company&#8217;s investors and other stakeholders.&#160;&#160;However, as the Staff was not persuaded by our technical arguments, <font style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><font color="#0d0d0d" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">we will&#160;</font> </font></font></font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0d0d0d">remove in future filings the subtotal &#8220;Operating Income before D&amp;A&#8221; from the face of the Income Statement.</font></font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 36pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><font color="black" style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">Should you have any questions about the response contained herein, please contact Marcelo F. Kozak or Adri&#225;n Calaza at 54-11-4968-3835 (tel), 54-11-4968-3274 (tel), 54-11-4313-0526 (fax) or by e-mail to </font><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">mkozak@ta.telecom.com.ar</font><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"> or </font><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">acalaza@ta.telecom.com.ar</font><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"> or </font><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">pinsussa@ta.telecom.com.ar</font><font color="black" style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman">.</font></font></font></div>

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<div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 360pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Very truly yours,</font></div>

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