The National Telecommunications Commission said Thursday it is unlikely to reallocate some of the “very powerful” frequency band held by San Miguel Corp.
“It’s not easy. Reallocation [of frequency] is a quasi-judicial process. There’s must be a reason for the recall,” NTC regulations branch head Edgardo Cabarios said.
Cabarios said the government would only recall the frequency if it was unused and the user did not pay the proper spectrum users fee. He said San Miguel Group., through Bell Telecommunication Philippines Inc., earlier informed the agency that it was undertaking the rollout of its mobile telecommunications network.
Cabarios’ statement came after Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc. revived their request for a fair share in the 700 Mhz spectrum.
San Miguel president Ramon Ang turned down the request of PLDT and Globe and advised the incumbent players to improve and fine-tune their networks. San Miguel plans to use the 700 Mhz to roll out mobile broadband service in partnership with Australia’s Telstra Corp.
