3rd telco player known next month

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) firmed up the deadline for the selection of a new major telco player in November this year.

The DICT on Tuesday released its latest schedule, which placed the bid submission deadline and opening by Nov. 7 this year.

Interested groups can buy bid documents at P1 million each starting Oct. 8 or two days after the final terms of reference become effective.

DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said the deadline had been set by an oversight committee empowered by President Duterte.

“If there are some changes [in the timeline], it has to be approved by the President himself,” Rio said. Mr. Duterte had earlier threatened to assume control of the selection process should the DICT fail to identify a winner by next month.

The DICT also noted that a preselection information session will he held on Oct. 15. Moreover, potential bidders can submit classificatory questions on Oct. 22 and Nov. 2.

The DICT held a briefing on Tuesday to discuss the final terms and the updated bid schedule.

Bidders present in the briefing included officials from Converge ICT Solutions, Udenna Corp., EasyCall Communications Philippines, NOW Corp., Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp., and Transpacific Broadband Group.

The new major telco player will be chosen based on the so-called highest committed level of service (HCLoS) model. The three major elements to be scored are population coverage, internet speed and investment over the five-year commitment period.

The goal of the selection process is to determine which company or consortium will receive a set of mobile frequencies.

It can use these to provide voice calls, text messaging and mobile internet, putting it in direct competition with the services offered by the existing duopoly of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom.

Based on the final terms, radio frequencies in the 700 Megahertz, 2100 MHz, 2000 MHz, 2.5 Gigahertz, 3.3 GHz, and 3.5 GHz bands will be awarded.

The rules indicated that a third telco could not sell or become a related party to the dominant player, or one with a market share of at least 40 percent. Should this occur at any point in time, the new major player will be mandated to return all awarded radio frequencies to the NTC “without condition.”

Moreover, the annual review of the third telco’s commitments would be conducted by an independent auditor. The auditor should be part of the latest List of Accredited Auditing Firms under Group A of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the rules noted.

The new major player also faces tough penalties for breaching its commitments more than two times, each with a six-month remedy period, throughout the five years.

Punishment includes forfeiting the performance security and the recall of radio frequencies. Moreover, the NTC will also recall any radio frequency spectrum below 3 GHz should the third telco fail to use these within the timeframe stated in its rollout plan.

In terms of qualifications, a company or consortium must have a congressional franchise that is not a related party to any dominant telco, must have no uncontested liabilities to the NTC as of Oct. 1, 2018, and must have a paid-in capital of at least P10 billion.