Globe, PLDT in favor of DICT move to reassign unused frequencies

In case the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) moves to reassign the unused radio frequencies allocated to PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., the telcos will support such decision.

DICT Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima on Monday promised to reassign the underused frequencies that telcos are supposedly being kept by telcos for “speculative purposes.”

Globe and PLDT have no problem with such move.

"We fully support this thrust of DICT Secretary Salalima," Ray Espinosa, head of PLDT’s Regulatory Affairs and Policy Office, said Tuesday.

Salalima's orders are consistent with the policy declaration under Republic Act No. 7925, that the "... government shall allocate spectrum to services providers [that] will use it efficiently and effectively to meet public demand for telecommunications service..." Espinosa noted.

"Thus, the government should not allow assigned spectrum to remain idle and unutilized, since this would be detrimental and injurious to the public interest," he said.

Globe is taking the same position on the matter, noting that the move may finally address the concerns about warehousing unused frequencies.

"We support this to finally eradicate stock piling of frequency assets and not using it. These limited assets should be used for public benefit by institutions that have the capability to use them," Yolanda Crisanto, VP for Corporate Communications, said.

Globe and PLDT have been clamoring for the unused 700 megahertz (MHz) spectrum allocated to San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

The telcos, however, revealed in May the co-acquisition of SMC's telcom business, a deal which involved the reallocation of the 700 MHz band. — VDS, GMA News