Mislatel won’t compromise nat’l security despite China Tel

National security will not be compromised by Mislatel Consortium despite having state-owned China Telecommunications Corp. Ltd. as consortium partner, the group’s spokesperson said Tuesday.

Under its roll-out plan, national security is high on the agenda of Mislatel, said Adel Tamano, the group’s spokesperson said in an interview on GMA News’ “News to Go.”

“Under the terms of reference, when we submit our roll out plan, kailangan namin ng detailed information kung paano namin ipo-protect ang information,” he said.

“That would be our top priority to ensure our national security,” Tamano emphasized.

On Monday, the National Telecommunications Commission hailed Mislatel as the country’s third major telco player.

The consortium consists of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (Mislatel), Udenna Corp., Chelsea Logistics Corp., and China Telecom.

Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy is both the chairman and CEO of Udenna and Chelsea Logistics. He contributed as much as P35 million to the campaign kitty of then-Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during the 2016 presidential election.

“We are Filipino company. We will not allow our national security to be undermined by any party. We work very closely with DND and NSA to ensure ... national security,” Tamano said.

DND is the Department of National Defense and NSA is the National Security Adviser.

Even if China Telecom is an enterprise owned by the Chinese government, Tamano noted that Filipinos actually call the shots in Mislatel.

“It is an SOE (state-owned enterprise) as most companies in China are, but we want to make it very clear 40 percent lang ang stake nila. Ang consortium ay Philippine company,” he said.

Better option

Mislatel has a better option in terms of internet connectivity, speed, and price compared with PLDT Inc., its mobile subsidiary Smart Communications Inc., and rival Globe Telecom Inc., according to Mislatel’s spokesperson.

“Sa internet speed, first commitment year namin ay 27 Mbps. Kung ikukumpara sa Smart at Globe, ang internet speed nila ngayon ay 10 mbps. Doble na kami niyan sa first year of operation,” Tamano said.

“In the second year, 55 Mbps ang commitment namin. ‘Yung agreement signed today for submarine cables, this is our first step para bumaba ang prices,” he added.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology and China Telecom signed a joint letter of intent to build a submarine cable landing station linking Hong Kong and the Philippines.

“By using our submarine cable, ang internet natin mabibili na sa Hong Kong at US. Definitely bababaan po namin ung cost ng internet,” Tamano said. —LlanescaPanti/VDS, GMA News