Duterte to reveal third telco player ‘by Christmas’ 2018

The third telecommunications company will be known in December 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte said during a nationally televised conversation with his chief presidential legal counsel, Secretary Salvador Panelo, in Malacañang on Tuesday.

“I will ... maybe early November pag wala pa, I’ll take over. Ilagay ko ‘yan sa Office of the President and I will invite all dito—negosyante—and I will decide in front of them kung sino,” the President said.

“By Christmas alam na ng mga tao kung sino ‘yung third player.”

His timeline seems to be in sync with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) which also intends to name the third telco player before the end of the year, with September or October as “best case scenario.”

The Philippines is scrambling to break the so-called duopoly of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., as ordered by Duterte, to lower the cost of voice and data services as well as improve connectivity.

At least five local and seven foreign companies are interested in filling the third telco slot, according to the DICT last month.

The local firms are PT&T, Now, Converge, Transpacific-Broadband, and TiereOne while the foreign companies are from China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Norway, and the United States. —VDS, GMA News