3rd telco to get less than a third of spectrum frequencies —DICT

The incoming third player in the telecommunications industry will be able to operate even with less than a third of the spectrum frequencies, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Monday.

Only less than a third of the country’s radio frequencies are still available since a large portion of the spectrum frequencies has already been assigned to Globe Telecom Inc. and PLDT-Smart Communications Inc., DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said in a Senate hearing.

Rio was asked by Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel on how the DICT and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) view the possibility of reallocating of the radio  frequency spectrum through competitive bidding.

“Actually, the real problem we have now is Globe and Smart have acquired so many of the spectrum leaving less than one-third to the player,” Rio noted.

Last year, incumbent players PLDT, which owns and operates Smart, and Globe acquired the new radio frequencies after buying the telecom business of San Miguel Corp. The deal included the much coveted 700 megahertz spectrum.

The DICT earlier warned, however, that unused radio frequencies assigned to them by the government would be confiscated and redistributed to operating telcos.

In the same hearing, Rio clarified that even with less than third of the radio frequencies available, the third telco will be able to operate in the Philippines.

“The new player can operate with the available frequency,” he said, noting that there is a bill pending before the Congress which seeks to redistribute the frequencies.”

Globe and PLDT earlier said they support the government’s plan to confiscate unused frequencies and reassign them to other companies.

The DICT stands firm in naming the third telco before the end of the year, despite criticisms that the timeline is too tight for prospective bidders.

President Rodrigo Duterte warned in September that he would take over the bidding process if, by early November, it would still be unclear if there would be a new major player.

At least seven firms have so far bought bid documents from the NTC to participate in the bidding and bag the contract to be the country’s third major player.

Among those interested are China Telecom, NOW Telecom, Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Co. (PT&T), Telenor Group, TierOne Communications, Udenna Corp., and a group that declined to be named.

The bidding proper is scheduled on November 7, the first Wednesday of next month. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News