PT&T hopes to seal partnership deal with China Telecom

To become a full-service telecommunications company and compete with dominant players PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PT&T) hopes to seal a partnership deal with China Telecom Corp. Ltd.

China Telecom was chosen by the government to be the third player in the Philippine telecommunications industry.

“Hopefully, it will be with China Telecom ... That is the choice of the government. I think it's already the choice of the President to give it to China Telecom,” PT&T chairman Salvador Zamora said in an interview GMA News Online.

On Sunday, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar revealed that China Telecom will be investing in the Philippines’ telecom industry.

The Chinese firm, however, must partner with a Philippine company as the 1987 Constitution mandates a 40-percent limit on foreign ownership in public utilities.

“We are in preliminary talks with them but, of course, it is their decision which company to partner with,” Zamora noted.

China Telecom is among the eight Chinese firms Zamora said earlier PT&T was in talks with on expanding PT&T's telecommunications businesses.

PT&T expects to sign a joint venture agreement with Zhongxing Tiantong Corp. on December 18 to expand the its fixed broadband services as well.

However, Zamora said PT&T is not lobbying to bag the partnership deal with state-owned China Telecom. Instead, PT&T is keeping its options open while hoping for a favorable decision from the Chinese firm.

"We leave it up to them to decide. There are others that have potential like IP-Converge, Now Communications, and two others," he said.
 
Zamora noted that PT&T is bent on pushing through with the plan to enter the mobile cellular business with a strategic partner.

"We have different options. It would be with European, Indian, Mexican. Of course, one possible partner is Softbank of Japan," he said.

China Telecom is one of the top telecommunications companies in China, its shares listed on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

5G technology

To become an effective and efficient mobile network company, Zamora said PT&T will invest in the upcoming fifth generation technology or 5G.

The company estimated it would need to investment $2 billion penetrate market via 5G technology.

"5G is just around the corner. There's still no fixed protocol for 5G. I heard 5G broadband will be in by the end of 2018. So, technology is fast-moving, fast-changing. We hope to enter when technology catches up with cost," Zamora noted.

"Since we are going to be a new entry into cellular, we won't have to amortize with nearing-obsolete technology like both Smart and Globe—they're heavily invested in 2G and 3G. They're still amortizing that. So, in our case, we can go directly to 5G," Zamora said.

“The strategy is to invest in new technology. It’s for mobile internet and also for broadband. They're talking na this is 100 times faster than 4G. Hopefully, this is the breakthrough we are waiting for. When 5G comes in everything will change. We are hoping na kami ang makauna sa 5G because we want to start fresh in cellular," he added.

Zamora said PT&T aims to have share of the portion of the coveted 700 Megahertz spectrum—prized for its ability to penetrate walls and compatibility with the LTE (Long Term Evolution) or 4G technology.

“Definitely, we are entering the cellular market once we get enough spectrum because, as we know, the 700 Mhz is almost completely covered by Smart and Globe. There's only about 10 to 20 Mhz remaining and we can still operate on that but it can take more cell sites and more capital to service the market,” he said. — VDS, GMA News