The head of state-run National Transmission Corp. wants to pursue diversification and convert the company into a telecommunications and power generation firm.
TransCo president Melvin Matibag said in an interview the move would help achieve the company’s goal of nationwide broadband rollout, while securing the country’s ancillary reserve requirement.
“We want to diversify TansCo, amend the charter of TransCo by converting, not only as transmission company but also telecom company,” Matibag said.
He said TransCo could utilize its transmission assets, specifically the fiber optic network for the broadband rollout.
“We will engage in telecom. It makes sense because we have the facilities…We are the owner of the facility, even in related business…There is no government agency involved in the telecom,” Matibag said.
He said the National Telecommunications Commission is a regulatory body while the Department of Information and Communications Technology is a policy-making agency.
“I realize it makes a lot of sense. There is no GOCC [government-owned controlled corporation] which has the power to do telecom business,” he said.
TransCo owns the country’s transmission assets and oversees National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, the private company that operates and manages the said assets.
TransCo also manages the feed-in tariff fund which is used to pay renewable energy developers.
“We want to engage in all kinds of telecom. Globe and Smart are using towers for co-location. We want to provide telco services… We [are] doing the policy already, doing informal talks already. This is for the benefit of the public,” Matibag said.
The government’s fiber optic cables cover 6,154 kilometers or 160,779 fiber kilometers which the government hopes to tap to deploy Internet to remote areas.
Matibag said TransCo also planned to engage in power generation and put up 2,000 megawatts of capacity to serve the ancillary requirements of NGCP.
“We also want TransCo to put up power plant for the purpose of addressing ancillary reserve…TransCo is not forbidden to build,” Matibag said.
Ancillary services refer to services that are necessary to support the transmission of capacity and energy from resources to loads, while maintaining the reliable operation of the transmission system.
Matibag said TransCo could forge joint venture partnerships for the 2,000-MW reserve capacity, or equivalent to 20 percent to 25 percent of the power grid’s current capacity.
“We will not compete with the gencos…We are preparing policy paper to Congress…Secretary [Alfonso Cusi] agreed with the policy,” he said.
Matibag said TransCo’s charter needed to be amended as the agency was created under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
“Before the end of the year, we will submit it to the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office,” he said.
Matibag said his proposal was also supported by some congressmen and senators.