House OKs franchise for 3rd telco player DITO

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading the measure seeking to renew for another 25 years the franchise of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company Inc., now known as DITO Telecommunity Corporation, the third telco player in the country.

With 240 votes in the affirmative and seven in the negative, the chamber approved House Bill 7332 renewing the franchise of DITO Telecommunity Corporation to "construct, establish, install, maintain and operate wire and/or wireless telecommunications system in the Philippines."

The measure prohibits DITO Telecommunity Corporation to lease, transfer, sell, grant the usufruct or assign the franchise, rights or privileges, or its controlling interest with prior Congress approval.

It also authorizes the President the right to temporarily take over and operate the company's stations or facilities, temporarily suspend its operation in the interest of public safety, security and welfare, as well as to grant its temporary use and operation by any government agency in times of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, or disturbance of peace and order.

Likewise, the measure requires the company to offer at least 30% of its outstanding stock to Filipino citizens in any security exchange in the Philippines or through other methods encouraging public participation.

It is also mandated to ensure that at least 60% of its employees are on regular status but the percentage of its contractual employees, job orders, casuals, talents, and independent contractors combined exceed 40%.

DITO Telecommunity Corporation was awarded its permit to operate as the third telecommunications player of the country on July 8, 2019.

The consortium is made up of Davao businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corporation, Udenna's subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Inc., and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation.

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

The company was officially declared as the "new major player" by the National Telecommunications Commission on November 19, 2018, after it committed a nationwide coverage of 84.01%, a minimum speed of 55 megabits per second (Mbps), and a capex/opex of P27 billion in its fifth year of operations.

According to the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the company may start accepting subscribers by the fourth quarter of the year.

DITO spokesperson Adel Tamano noted, however, that the company is scheduled to start commercial operations in the second quarter of 2020 as details have to first be finalized. -NB, GMA News