Mislatel Consortium to start network rollout as third telco in July

Mislatel Consortium will start it network rollout as the third major telecommunications company next month, consortium member Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. said Friday.

“The Mislatel consortium, composed of Udenna Corporation, Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., and China Telecommunications Corporation, completed on June 13 the signing of the Share-Purchase Agreement (SPA) that will bring closer to fruition the operation of the country’s third telco player,” according to a regulatory filing submitted by Chelsea’s vice president for finance Ignacia Braga.

The deal was signed by Udenna chairman Dennis A. Uy, Chelsea president and CEO Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy, and China Telecom Deputy Managing Director Xiao Wei.

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

On November 19, 2018 the National Telecommunications Commission declared the Mislatel Consortium as the “New Major Player” in the telco industry.

But Republic Act 8627, which granted franchise to Mindanao Islamic Telephone to maintain and operate a wireless telecommunications system in the country, states that its controlling interest cannot be transferred to any person, company or entity without prior approval of the Congress.

Congress, in May, approved the transfer, sale, or assignment of the controlling interest of Mindanao Islamic Telephone to businessman Udenna Corp., its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics, and state-owned China Telecom.

Information and Communications Technology Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. told GMA News Online that since Mislatel Consortium had secured the congressional greenlight, the consortium needed to post a P25.7 billion performance bond in order to be awarded the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and frequencies to commercially operate.

“(It’s) operations in the sense that we are aiming to get the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) by July. Once we get that, our network rollout will begin,” Mislatel spokesperson Adel Tamano  meanwhile told GMA News Online.

“We’re really hoping to get everything fixed by July. The signing of the agreements is a vivid manifestation of the fulfillment of our goal to provide Filipinos with faster and reliable internet connection. We are grateful for the support and cooperation shown by the approving bodies,” Damuy said.

Tamano said Mislatel Consortium will post the performance bond once it gets the notice from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to pay it, probably by the first week of July.

"We will rollout after CPCN. The commercial launch will be likely half of 2020," Tamano said, noting that the consortium has already been laying the groundwork or the infrastructure to start its network rollout. —VDS/DVM, GMA News