SMC’s Ang open to partnership with PLDT, Globe

Calls for unity are extending beyond politics and even into business.

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is opening the door to a potential agreement with the telecommunications duopoly of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom, SMC president Ramon S. Ang said Friday.

PLDT and Globe are fiercely seeking a share of SMC’s powerful 700 megahertz frequency, which they claimed was needed to improve Internet services, and have broached the possibility of a partnership in recent months.

Ang told reporters that the conglomerate, which aims to use the 700 MHz to launch a rival high-speed mobile Internet service this year, would welcome any commercial agreement, but both telcos had to reciprocate via asset sharing and easing interconnection.

“Of course I’m open, why not,” Ang said. “But if they want me to share [the frequency] we should talk about sharing other things like cell sites.”

SMC holds almost all of the 700 MHz spectrum, a low-band frequency ideal for covering large areas and penetrating walls efficiently.

SMC will use the asset to launch an LTE Internet service both “faster and cheaper” than those offered by Globe and PLDT. Both have been ramping up investments in data given explosive demand for Internet services and social media.

“If they are willing to cooperate and make this a level playing field for the three of us, definitely I am open. Even if they call me late in the evening,” Ang said.

An agreement for infrastructure sharing, Ang said, might even accelerate ongoing talks with a foreign partner. Ang said they have been approached by at least four international groups, including “big” Asian telcos, since negotiations with Australia’s Telstra Corp. Ltd. failed last March.

Ang said they hoped to make a decision with a telco partner either by the end of May or June this year or go solo in the business.