Due to imitations brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has extended the validity of all existing telecom and broadcast permits, certificates and licenses until the last working day of December.
Under Memorandum Order 14-07-2020, the regulator said it is contributing to efforts to help Filipinos cope with the pandemic, through the extension of the validity of permits, certificates and licenses.
“All existing permits, certificates and licenses, to operate radio communications equipment, networks and facilities, public [telecom], broadcast, government or private, in various radio services, expiring in the current year shall remain valid and may be renewed on or before the last working day of December 2020 without penalties or surcharges,” the order read.
The regulatory body said this order was issued due to limitations in mobility, especially in areas under enhanced or general community quarantine.
“Due to expediency reasons and as there are still mobility limitation issues in many regions around the country, Public Telecommunications Entities may file/submit applications for renewal of permits and/or licenses at the NTC Central Office,” the order read. Smart Communications Inc. said it appreciates the assistance of the NTC “in dealing with these difficulties created by the pandemic.”
“Hand-in-hand with the government, we will be able to surmount the challenges presented by Covid-19 and continue improving communications services for Filipinos nationwide,” Smart President Alfredo S. Panlilio said.
For its part, Globe Telecom Inc. sought for the assistance of local government units (LGUs) in building telco infrastructure to meet the current demand.
Globe President Ernest L. Cu appealed to LGUs to rationalize fees and expedite the processing of permits thereby enabling the industry to build the infrastructure needed to improve connectivity in the country.
“Each year, we make massive investments in billions of pesos to make our network perform at par with other countries. However, we can only go as far as what our existing infrastructure can give. If we want robust connectivity we really need to build more cellsites and roll out more fiber to homes. The current permitting process and fee structures simply do not allow us to do these,” Cu said.
The Globe executive met recently with President Duterte, who threatened to shutdown telcos if their services will not improve before December.
He explained to Duterte the current state of permitting processes, which takes more than eight months per tower.
Cu likewise appealed to home owners associations (HOAs) for their cooperation. HOAs have always cited health and aesthetics as issues for not allowing telcos to build towers within their subdivisions and villages. “As Filipinos adapt to the new normal, having ample ICT infrastructure is particularly important to improve internet speed, increase coverage and capacity for data hungry customers. In addition, having many cellsites is critical to successfully roll out advanced technologies like 5G services in the country.”