Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.’s exclusivity arrangement at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig has been declared illegal by the Court of Appeals.
In a 15-page decision, the Court of Appeals’ ninth division junked PLDT’s contract with the Forth Bonifacio Development Corp. (FBDC) barring other telecommunications firms from setting up network infrastructure in the emerging central business district.
PLDT earlier acquired state-owned Bonifacio Communications Corp. (BCC) from the government. BCC was later given the exclusive rights to offer telecommunications services in BGC.
As a result, Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. sued PLDT for barring other companies from entering BGC.
“We are very happy with the decision of the CA to dismiss PLDT’s case against us,” Globe head of corporate and legal services Froilan Castelo said in a statement. “At the end of the day, Globe is after the welfare of the consumers, where they are empowered to choose their preferred telecommunications provider. Gone are the days when the market is dominated and controlled by a single operator.”
Globe earlier tried but was stopped by PLDT from terminating the exclusivity arrangement. This prompted Globe to file a complaint before the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The NTC then released Memorandum Circular (MC) 05-05-2002 declaring BGC a free zone where any duly franchised public telecommunications entity (PTE) will be allowed to provide networks and connectivity.
After the issuance of the new rules, PLDT sued NTC and Globe before the Quezon City Trial Court, arguing that “exclusivity is an industry practice and is not an abnormality.”
PLDT also said that BCC was not a public telecommunications entity and should not be under the NTC’s jurisdiction.
Both the NTC and the Quezon City RTC ruled against PLDT. The NTC also accused PLDT of grave violation of its mandate to promote nondiscriminatory universal access to telecommunications facilities. In January this year, PLDT elevated the case to the Appeals court.
In its decision, the appellate court said it was the NTC’s duty to enforce rules on fairness in the telecommunications industry.
The NTC’s jurisdiction is not “confined to PTEs,” the court said. “The said body is empowered to enforce provisions of relevant telecommunications laws, rules and regulations against any person or entity.”