The Government of Javier Milei expanded the scope of the cell phone ban in prisons, now including provincial prisons, and enabled the disabling of devices, SIM cards, and phone lines activated in penitentiary establishments of jurisdictions that adhere to the national protocol.
The decision was formalized this Thursday through Resolution 734/2026 of the National Communications Entity (Enacom), published in the Official Bulletin. With this measure, the mechanism that until now was limited to the federal penitentiary system can be extended to the units managed by the provinces that join the scheme.
The aim of the provision is to prevent cell phones used inside prisons from becoming a tool for planning or coordinating crimes from confinement. The resolution establishes a specific procedure for blocking devices detected within the affected establishments.
Javier Milei and Patricia Bullrich in a federal prison
What elements will be blocked
According to the official text, mobile communication companies must block three elements related to each identified device.
The first is the IMEI, which allows identifying the cell phone. The IMSI, associated with the SIM card, and the phone line linked to the device must also be blocked.
The scope of the measure includes devices activated both within the detention area and in restricted access areas located within the penitentiary establishments covered by the protocol.
However, the application of the ban will not be left to a direct decision by the telephone companies nor can it be ordered unilaterally by each province.
President Javier Milei
The resolution establishes that each disabling must have an express request from the Ministry of Security of the Nation. The national portfolio will also be the only authorized channel to communicate the blocking requests made by the provinces that adhere to the protocol to the service providers.
In this way, a province that joins the scheme will not be able to independently request the phone companies to disable a device. The procedure will be centralized in the national Ministry of Security, which will concentrate the sending of information and the activation of the mechanism.
The request from Mendoza
The inclusion of provincial prisons in the regime occurred after a presentation made by the Ministry of Security and Justice of Mendoza to Enacom.
The Mendoza portfolio had warned about the use of cell phones inside the provincially managed prisons and demanded a complementary regulation that expressly included provincial penitentiary establishments within the prevention scheme.
