THE chief of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is now more confident his group will meet its target of announcing the third telco player in the Philippines before the year ends, as a local court junked the petition for a temporary restraining order against the regulator last Friday.
Eliseo M. Rio Jr., DICT chief, said in a phone interview on Sunday that his group may announce the winner of the third-telco slot this November, a month ahead of its original target of December.
“We are all systems go. We can announce the third telco player by November,” he said. “I think the court really sees what is good for the Filipino people.”
Rio confirmed his group has received the decision of the trial court in Manila that denied the petition for a stay order against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). Now Corp. filed a case against the regulator for supposedly inserting financial provisions allegedly not discussed during public hearings and meetings. Calling the provisions a “money-making scheme,” Now Corp. listed the provisions as the P700-million participation security, the P14-billion to P24-billion performance security and the P10-million nonrefundable appeal fee.
Even with the denial of its stay-order petition, Now Corp. said it remains firm in questioning the aforesaid provisions, and is keen on explaining its side during the court hearing set for next week, October 23. Now Corp. essentially challenged the process in court to change the terms of reference for the selection process, reportedly saying it wants President Duterte himself to select the official third telco.
“Everything they did does not only reflect badly on Now Corp. With what they did, they put the President in a bad position,” Rio said.
Now Corp., a company controlled by businessman Mel V. Velarde, and with seven other groups bought selection documents from the regulator last week. They are Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PT&T), Udenna Corp. of Dennis A. Uy, China Telecommunications Corp., Mobitel Holdings Gmbh, politician Chavit Singson, European telco Telenor, and an unnamed group.
Today, Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is expected to buy its selection documents from the NTC, Rio said. It will be partnering with KT Corp., a state-owned South Korean telecommunications provider.
“So it will be nine contenders. And who knows? Maybe more groups will join,” Rio said. Also today, the regulator will host a preselection information session with the prospective bidders. Rio said this is an avenue for participants to learn how to fill out the forms for the selection process.
“We will also entertain clarifications on the process, but we won’t be changing the rules any more. They’ve already been set,” he said.
The regulator will be accepting the offers of the contenders until November 7, when it will also open the bids to check if they are complete in terms of the requirements.
“It will be publicly opened so we will see firsthand their committed level of service,” Rio said.
The government veered away from the traditional auction model, and instead adopted a “beauty contest” that essentially takes into account the highest level of commitments on three aspects: speed, coverage and financial capability.
Each contender will get points for each category, based on thresholds and minimums.
The third telco is expected to challenge incumbents Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. With its entry, prices of services are expected to go down, all while improving the quality of services.