BayanTel ready to get out of rehab

(Updated 5:50 p.m.) Bayan Telecommunications Inc. (Bayantel) may soon end its court-approved rehabilitation that has been in place since 2003, controlling shareholder Globe Telecom Inc. said Tuesday.

 

The process of slipping BayanTel out of rehabilitation is happening this year as all conditions have been met, Globe Executive Vice President Gil Genio told reporters during a briefing. 

 

"All of the conditions have been met so hopefully in the next two months... One day we’ll wake up and that’s it,” Genio added . 

 

The rehabilitation of BayanTel and subsidiary Radio Communications of the Philippines was supposed to last until 2023, a process which was shortened by the entry of Globe.

 

The Ayala-led company holds a 98.6-percent interest in BayanTel after a debt-to-equity deal with the Lopez Group and the acquisition of shares in Bayan Telecommunications Holdings Corp. and Lopez Holdings Corp. in July.

 

BayanTel has around 144,000 broadband subscribers and 174,400 fixed line voice customers as of end-2014. This would add add to Globe’s 48.4 million mobile subscriber base.

 

Rival Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company had raised objections to Globe's takeover of BayanTel, calling such move anti-competitive.

 

The impact of the takeover on the financial health of PLDT is “hard to say” as of the moment, PLDT Chairman Manny Pangilinan said on the sidelines of the company’s media briefing on Tuesday.

 

"The traditional bailiwick of PLDT has been its fixed line. And I believe we’re maintaining our market share there and we intend to continue maintaining our market share on the fixed line, that’s fully our intention,” Pangilinan noted. – VS, GMA News