The Senate on Wednesday voted to grant the franchise application of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. (Mislatel), boosting its bid to challenge the Smart-PLDT and Globe Telecom (Smart-Globe) telco duopoly until 2023.
With only three senators—Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Sen. Panfilo Lacson Sr. and Sen. Risa Hontiveros—casting negative votes, the franchise of Mislatel consortium led by Davao businessman Dennis Uy breezed through the Senate plenary session, paving the way for a three-cornered contest to win over telco subscribers.
The majority of the senators voted to adopt House Concurrent Resolution 23 that approved “the transfer, sale or assignment of the controlling interest of Mislatel to Uy’s Udenna Corp., Chelsea Holdings Corp. and the state-run China Telecommunications Corp.
Based on documents submitted to the Senate, Udenna Corp. and Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. own 35 percent and 25 percent, respectively, while China Telecom holds a 40-percent stake, with Mislatel acting as franchise holder.
The approved Resolution 23 affirms that Mislatel has “committed to provide Filipinos with unprecedented and unparalleled quality of telecommunications services, made possible only by the organizational unity, fiscal cooperation and technology transfer between and among Mislatel and its committed investors.”
The government formally declared Mislatel as the country’s provisional third telco carrier after the two other bidders—Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PT&T) and the Singson-led SEAR Telecom, composed of LCS Group and TierOne—were disqualified.
Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services, held at least four public hearings on the Mislatel franchise application, during which the committee sought to remove any reference to Mislatel being the third telco or the new major player as the validity of its franchise could still be questioned in courts. The senator acknowledged that even if the Senate gives the green light for Mislatel to continue operating, interested parties are not prevented from availing legal remedies.
Earlier, Drilon declared that Mislatel’s legislative franchise was deemed to have been revoked following its failure to operate one year after it was granted license in 1998, adding that Mislatel likewise failed to inform Congress of a change in its leadership.
Department of Information and Communications Technology Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio Jr., however, suggested this could be cured by remedial legislation “because Congress gave the franchise in the first place so that’s being studied right now.”
For her part, Poe sponsored the measure after noting the public’s “desperation” to have a new telco player that promises to offer better services.
Poe noted, however, that Mislatel risks losing more than P25 billion in performance bond should they fail to meet their commitments in the first year of their operation.