Mislatel open to partner with Globe, PLDT-Smart, other telcos

Mislatel Consortium, recently named the country's third telco player, said that its doors are open for possible partnerships with other telecommunications firms, including Globe Telecom and PLDT-Smart.

"We are open to partnering with anyone, even those who did not bid for whatever reason, or those who lost the bidding. We want to work with them," Mislatel Consortium spokesperson Adel Tamano said in a press conference in Quezon City on Tuesday.

"We are open to partnering with them [Globe and PLDT-Smart]... we are looking forward to partnering with them on tower sharing. Sa mga small players, we want to partner with them so that they can leverage on their backbone para mas mabilis ang rollout nila," Tamano added.

The Mislatel group official clarified that any deals it may enter in with other players would be limited only to commercial partnerships, and they will not become an equity partner for the consortium.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Monday officially declared Mislatel Consortium as the country’s new major player in the telecom industry, 12 days after the bid documents were opened. 

Mislatel Consortium is composed of Davao businessman Dennis Uy's Udenna Corporation and Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp., franchise holder Mindanao Islamatic Telephone Co., and foreign partner China Telecommunications Corp.

Uy was one of President Rodrigo Duterte's biggest backers during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Aspirants Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and Singson-led Sear Telecom were disqualified from the selection process for incomplete requirements. Both PT&T and Sear no longer appealed before the NTC their respective disqualifications and decided to elevate their cases to courts.

The Mislatel group has a period of 90 days to submit its organizational structure, rollout plan, and around P25 billion performance security bond.

"For our rollout, that will depend on who will be our partners... Ang uunahin namin po is 'yung mobile services if we are able to partner for example the tower sharing or magpa-partner kami sa local broadband companies," Tamano said.

Mislatel group has committed to spend P256 billion for its five-year rollout.

It also vowed to achieve a nationwide coverage of 37.03 percent, a minimum speed of 27 megabits per second (Mbps), and a capex/opex of P150 billion in its first year of operations.

For the second to the fifth year of its operations, Mislatele has committed to achieve 55 Mbps minimum speed and P27 billion in capex/opex every year, while gradually expanding its nationwide coverage (51.01 percent in the second year, 70.01 percent in the third year, 80.01 percent in the fourth year, and 84.01 percent in the fifth year). — BM, GMA News