🎤Antel, Antel Arena and telecoms· 2018-2026

Antel Arena: the Court of Audit flagged the ITC contract

After years of losses and the private operator's exit, Antel handed management to its subsidiary ITC. The Court of Audit flagged the contract and the board reiterated the spending.

FlaggedFlagged by auditors

Figure published by the sources

US$ 3,7 millones de resultado negativo en 2024 y una pérdida proyectada de US$ 4,67 millones para 2025; canon base de US$ 96.000 anuales para ITC

Bodies involved

ANTEL

What it is

Since it opened in 2018, the Antel Arena was run by AEG Facilities Uruguay S.A. According to Búsqueda, ASM Global, the parent of the Uruguayan subsidiary, notified that it would cease managing the venue when the existing contract expired on 31 December 2025. On 23 October 2025 Antel's board approved the contract handing management from 1 January 2026 to ITC S.A., a subsidiary of Antel itself, instead of launching the international tender that, according to MP Álvaro Dastugue, had been ready since October 2024. The contract sets a base fee of US$96,000 a year plus incentives and penalties of up to ±25% against performance indicators, with an initial two-year term and automatic annual renewals for up to three more years. The venue's results were in the red: minus US$3.7 million in 2024 and a projected loss of US$4.67 million for 2025.

What is questioned

Búsqueda reported that on 5 November 2025 the Court of Audit flagged the contract for departing from the "principle of speciality" — that is, questioning whether running a stadium falls within a telecoms company's remit. Antel proceeded anyway. Radio Monte Carlo noted that the board resolved to reiterate the spending and that the opposition's board member, Laura Raffo, voted against and warned that many such cases "are classified as reserved"; according to Búsqueda, Raffo — the National Party's director — called the decision "reckless" and "irresponsible". Dastugue questioned whether a subsidiary with no record in managing large arenas could outperform a specialist operator. Antel president Alejandro Paz defended the change, arguing that "99.9% of the shows produced at the Antel Arena are brought in by national producers", which in his view makes the international middleman unnecessary.

Why it matters to you

The Antel Arena's deficit is covered by Antel — the telecoms company that also funds fibre and 5G and transfers its profits to the State. That the operator changed without an international tender and over a Court of Audit objection determines who controls several million dollars a year in events and services.

Where it stands

Flagged

The first figures under the new management, released by Antel and published by Montevideo Portal on 20 June 2026, show that between January and April 2026 the operating result went from a US$203,080 deficit to a US$208,710 profit, with income of US$1,393,170 (44% more than in the same period of 2025) and a management-provider cost that fell from US$70,000 to US$32,000. Búsqueda reported the same figures on 2 July 2026 and added that premium seat sales grew 148% and that the target is to exceed 100 events in 2026; Antel vice-president Pablo Álvarez said "we are six months into ITC's new management. We understand the decision taken is producing positive results", and cautioned that a full year would be needed to assess the change. As of this file's closing (August 2026) there are no later developments.

The open-data cross-reference

Open this set in the explorer

What the state awarded to the bodies and companies named in this file, according to the official Compras Estatales data. It is a cross-reference for scale, not proof of irregularity: it includes contracts nobody questioned.

How this cross-reference was builteverything recorded under the body's buying unit (not only this case) · between 2018 and 2026

$ 2.805.128.956 Awarded (cross-ref)

264Contracts

183Suppliers

Who was paid

Suppliers ranked by amount awarded in the cross-reference. A contract with several suppliers counts in full against each one: this is a ceiling, not a split.

What it bought

Spending by category, from price times quantity of each awarded item, in the contract currency.

Contracts per year

The detail

30 contracts

The largest contracts in the cross-reference, high to low. Tap one for its record and the link to the official purchase.

Amounts in pesos, normalised. Records with impossible quantities are excluded from the total. This is a contract between Antel and one of its own subsidiaries, and part of the record was declared reserved according to board member Raffo: it may not appear as an ordinary purchase in the state procurement search. A Court of Audit observation is a legality objection, not a conviction or a charge.