The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) wants the Supreme Court to weigh in on the May 2016 sale of San Miguel Corp.’s telecommunications unit to industry giants PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom.
The move comes after the 12th division of the Court of Appeals, acting on a petition from PLDT, blocked the PCC’s attempts to review the almost P70 billion transaction.
The antitrust body had previously said the deal allowed PLDT and Globe to corner a disproportionate slice of coveted telco frequencies, hurting prospects for fresh competition to enter the two-player sector.
PCC chair Arsenio Balisacan announced in a press conference this afternoon that the agency, via the Solicitor General, filed a petition on April 18, 2017, before the Supreme Court to lift the Appellate Court’s order that has since prevented any review.
READ: Antitrust body gets gag order, TRO on review of P70-B SMC telco sale stays
“By this petition, we elevate the matter to the highest court in the land, to finally allow us to fulfill our legal mandate in the interest of promoting competition in the telco market,” Balisacan said.
“We also would like to send a strong message to consumers and businesses that the PCC—as the country’s primary competition authority—will not back down or be intimated by companies who have grown accustomed to unregulated business practices that hamper competition and ultimately hurt the consumers,” he added.
Balisacan said the PCC’s petition to the Supreme Court was also aimed at preventing PLDT from proceeding with the final payment to SMC and further acting on the deal, which involved rolling out frequencies, including those in the 700 Megahertz band.
The 700MHz, previously almost fully controlled by SMC, is an LTE frequency valued for its ability to efficiently cover wide areas and penetrate walls with high-speed mobile internet.
The issues covering the PCC’s review has escalated from the heart of the matter, which was whether the telcos required the PCC’s approval to proceed with the SMC transaction.
PLDT and Globe earlier argued the deal should be “deemed approved”, citing the PCC’s own memorandum circulars that were in effect when the deal was launched.
The PCC countered that the required documents submitted by the telcos, namely the transaction notice, were deficient and lacked crucial material information.
The deal drew controversy even after a portion of the 700MHz, alongside other frequencies previously held by SMC, was returned by PLDT and Globe to the government. Critics said these were still not enough to accommodate a potential challenger to the telco duopoly.
SMC last year planned to launch a rival telco service of its own, but the bid weakened after its talks with Australia’s Telstra Corp. Ltd. failed in March 2016. Within months, the sale to PLDT and Globe was announced. CBB