NTC, QC court reject telco’s claim over Smart frequency

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has denied a telecom company’s claims over radio frequencies previously assigned to it before these were tranferred to Smart Communications Inc., a wholly owned unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. The Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC), in a similar decision, denied Exodus Broadcasting Co.'s petition seeking to nullify the NTC memorandum that reallocated the frequencies to Smart, the country’s largest mobile phone firm. In a recent en banc meeting, NTC commissioners unanimously denied the motion of Exodus Broadcasting for the renewal of its provisional authority to install, operate and maintain a mobile phone network in Metro Manila. Exodus Broadcasting failed to roll out any infrastructure for wireless services in the months after it was given the right to use the frequencies, which are considered properties of the state, the NTC said. The commission noted that Exodus Broadcasting admitted that it has not started construction and operations and that negotiations with suppliers are ongoing. Exodus Broadcasting filed for an extension of its provisional authority on April 26, 2005, or two months after its license expired. The firm is “undeserving of the privilege granted" since its non-operation “resulted in the deprivation of the public to access the proposed service," the NTC said. Meanwhile, Quezon City Judge Santiago Arenas said Exodus Broadcasting failed to establish “a clear and unmistakable right" to the frequencies previously assigned to it because these were already reallocated to other telecom companies. –VVP/VS, GMANews.TV