THE chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services expects the entry of a third major telecommunications service provider competing with the existing Globe-Smart duopoly to benefit consumers.
Sen. Grace Poe on Wednesday affirmed her optimism the entry of another telco provider will “bring far-reaching reforms amid consumers’ woes of slow Internet, excessive fees for inferior service and disappearing load.”
This, as she confirmed plans to convene another Senate hearing of the Public Services Committee soon as regular sessions resume on November 12, with the expectation that the Duterte government would have announced the third telco “by this month.”
The senator said she remains “fully supportive of efforts to break the telco duopoly and was in fact encouraging more players to bid for the country’s telco providers.”
In a speech before a crowd of about 15,000 at a local government event in San Jose Del Monte City in Bulacan, Poe said, “That is one of our advocacies…that there be competition not just between Globe and Smart, in order to have faster and cheaper service to telco users.”
Bringing in a third telco player, she stressed, would give consumers “more choices for better and efficient service for the Filipinos, who are among the world’s top Internet users.”
The senator recalled that the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Telecommunications Commission earlier announced they will push through with the bidding of the third telco on Wednesday, November 7, and subsequently announce a “provisional” third telco player.
According to Poe, they expect to see awaited reforms in the telco sector, long dominated by the Ayala-owned Globe Telecom and Smart Communications of the Manny V. Pangilinan group. “Maraming mga bagay ang dapat mangyari, katulad ng pagkakaroon ng mas mabilis na Internet.… Hindi ba minsan, ang cell phone, parang ang bilis maubos ng load [Many reforms must take place, for example, having a faster Internet…. Sometimes, it’s the load that disappears quickly],” said Poe.
She said the report that the Philippines has “one of the highest mobile data and Internet rates and among the slowest Internet speed globally is quite ironic, considering that the country is the social-networking capital of the world.”
In a statement issued later by her office, Poe voiced hopes that “this [third] consortium will live up to the expectations of the people and the mandatory quality standards for Internet connectivity and mobile services.”
She reminded all concerned that “this third telco was allowed to come in because the paying subscribers have been longing for service commensurate to what they have paid for.”
She noted that millions of Filipinos have been using the Internet, and expressed hope they can soon find relief from “choppy lines, dropped calls and turtle-paced connection.”
The senator added: “Having said that, the Department of Information and Communications Technology should be transparent and lay out the considerations that qualified the bidder.”
At the same time, she recalled that there were security concerns earlier raised over the participation of a foreign firm, and these should not be sidestepped. “The Armed Forces of the Philippines and other intelligence agencies should weigh in on the qualifications,” Poe added, apparently referencing the state-owned China Telecom’s tie-up with the Udenna group, the only entity among three bidders that was not disqualified.
It was declared the “provisional” third telco late Wednesday after tension-filled proceedings by the DICT.
3 GROUPS THAT SUBMITTED BIDS FOR 3RD TELCO SLOT
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Mislatel
MISLATEL Consortium is composed of Udenna Corp., Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp., China Telecom Corp. Ltd. and Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. Inc.
Udenna Corp. is the holding company of Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy, a close associate of President Duterte. Earlier, Uy bought 45 percent of ISM Communications Corp., a listed company that used to control Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. before it was bought out by San Miguel Corp.
Chelsea Logistics Corp. is also a company owned by Uy. It has holdings in logistics and shipping.
China Telecom Corp. Ltd. is a state-owned Chinese telco that has subsidiaries in the United States and Europe.
Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. Inc. holds a congressional franchise to construct, establish, install, maintain and operate wire and/or wireless telecommunications systems in the Philippines.
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Sear
SEAR Telecommunications Inc. is the corporate vehicle for the group of politician Luis “Chavit” C. Singson for the third telco bid. It is composed of TierOne Communications International Inc., Fujian Torch Electron Technology Co. Ltd., Miller Pte. Ltd., Southeast Asia Telecom (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., and LCS Holdings Inc.
TierOne is based in Davao del Norte with operations that involve the “bandwidth to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where broadband has been identified as a key driver of growth.”
Fujian Torch Electron Technology Co. Ltd. is a Chinese company primarily engaged in the research, development, manufacture, sale and testing of capacitors that are used for different sectors—aviation, warfare, medicine and telecommunications, among others.
Miller Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean company involved in the sale of electricity, electronics, equipment and other related supplies.
Southeast Asia Telecom (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. is a Cambodian telco whose parent company is headquartered in Singapore. In Cambodia, the company claims to be a “comprehensive telecommunication operator whose business includes mobile telecommunication and Internet services.” LCS Holdings Inc. is the holding company of Singson’s mining, transport and power companies.
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PT&T
PHILIPPINE Telegraph and Telephone Corp. was a cash-strapped company until after its rehab. It currently offers broadband services in Luzon through its 10,000-kilometer pure fiber cable network.