The National Telecommunications Commission said Tuesday it will assign all available mobile frequencies, including the third-generation frequency surrendered by PLDT Inc., to the country’s third major telecom player.
NTC deputy commissioner Edgard Cabarios said in an interview the agency was now preparing the list of mobile frequencies that would be assigned to the third telecom operator.
Cabarios said the 3G frequency surrendered by PLDT in particular would be assigned to the new player, but the latter must compensate PLDT for the acquisition of the frequency.
He said the NTC and the Department of Information and Communications Technology would prepare rules and regulations on how PLDT should be compensated for the 3G frequency owned by PLDT unit Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprises.
Cabarios said the third telco player would likely pay PLDT over P3 billion for the 3G frequency.
“There would be no auction for the other frequencies as directed by DICT,” he said.
Under the policy guidelines for the entry of a new major telco player in the public telecommunication market, the NTC will assign radio frequency bands that are now available for assignment to the third player.
Cabarios said the available frequency bands for the new player are 700 MHz, 800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz, 2500 Mhz and 3400-3500 Mhz.
“The total available frequency is competitive with the total of both PLDT and Globe,” he said.
Cabarios said the government was studying the possibility of putting a minimum bid for the selection of the third player.
According to the DICT guidelines, the applicant with the highest committed investment for the first five years will be selected and this commitment should be secured with a performance bond.
Cabarios said the potential candidates for the third player should invest at least P250 billion to P300 billion over five years to compete with the existing players.
PLDT and Globe Telecom announced they would spend P50 billion and over P40 billion, respectively to expand their mobile and fixed-broadband networks this year.
Cabarios said the government expected to select the third player by end of March this year and start to roll out its services by end of 2018.
The potential applicant for a third player should have a valid congressional telecommunications franchise. It should not be a subsidiary or affiliate of either Globe and PLDT Group.
Among the possible third telecom players are Mel Velarde’s Now Telecom, PT&T and Converge ICT Solutions Inc., along with foreign partners.