PLDT Inc. said Wednesday it is waiving its rights over unused 3G frequency which was earlier valued at P3 billion, after President Rodrigo Duterte rejected the company’s compensation claims.
The government wanted to give unused telecom frequencies to a third player in the industry. President Duterte warned the existing telecom players”•PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom”•against pursuing their claims over these unused frequencies or they would be subjected to a more stringent tax evaluation by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
PLDT Inc. chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said the company was now ready to surrender the frequency previously assigned to unit Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprises Inc. even without proper compensation.
“We actually have returned the Cure frequency to the NTC [National Telecommunications Commission] in 2011, I believe. What we are entitled to basically is reimbursement of our cost to acquire such frequency as part of our investment in Digitel Celluar then,” Pangilinan said in a text message.
“We are now prepared to waive our rights to such reimbursement. Effectively, we have returned the Cure frequency for free,” he said.
The NTC earlier estimated the cost recovery of the Cure 3G frequency at P3 billion, including PLDT’s investment in Cure and payment of regulator fees.
Smart bought Cure for P419.54 million from the group of former trade minister Roberto Ongpin in 2008. The divestment of Cure’s 10 megahertz 3G frequency was one of the conditions set by the NTC in approving the acquisition of Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc.
Cure’s 3G frequency will be assigned to the new third telco player on top of the other frequencies held by NTC. Other available frequency bands for the new player are 700 MHz, 800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz, 2500 Mhz and 3400-3500 Mhz.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology said it expected to announce the new major telco player by end of March, paving the way for the rollout of its services by end of the year.
According to DICT guidelines, the applicant for a third player with the highest committed investment for the first five years will be selected and this commitment should be secured with a performance bond.
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.
The third player should have a valid congressional telecommunications franchise and should not be a subsidiary of or affiliate of either Globe and PLDT Group.
Among the applicants are Mel Velarde’s Now Telecom, PT&T and Converge ICT Solutions Inc. These companies are expected to team up with foreign players to fund the investment.