5 local, 7 foreign firms eyeing Philippines’ third telco slot

At least five local and seven foreign companies are interested in filling the country’s need for a third telecommunications network provider, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Thursday.

The Philippines is scrambling to break the so-called duopoly of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, to lower the cost of voice and data services as well as improve connectivity.

“The local firms are PT&T, Now, Converge, Transpacific-Broadband, and TiereOne,” Acting DICT Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of a public hearing on the draft terms of reference in selecting the third telco player.

The foreign companies are mainly from China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Norway, and the US.

“The foreign are, of course, China Telecom, KT Corp., and LG U+. From Japan, not KBGI but their third largest. Then Viettel or Vietnam Telecom, Telenor, and there’s one from the US, maybe it’s AT&T,” Rio said.

In a separate interview, Rio told GMA News Online Japanese telco is KDDI Corp. and confirmed that US telco giant interested in the third telco slot is indeed AT&T.

Due to constitutional limits on foreign ownership, the foreign telcos must partner or form a joint venture with local companies.

The draft terms require participants or one of the members consortium or joint venture to have a congressional franchise.

At this point though, Rio said it is premature to say that the telcos he named will actually take part in the bidding process.

“Masasabi lang natin na sila na nga kung magsa-submit sila ng bids, or until they buy the bidding documents. Doon lang natin malalaman kung sino sila.”

Timeline

During the public hearing, National Telecommunications Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said stakeholders have 10 days to submit their position papers on the draft terms of reference.

After 10 days, the NTC and DICT have seven days to prepare and publish the final memorandum circular on the selection process, which will be in place after 15 days.

The bidding process may take one to two months from the day the final terms of reference actually took effect.

Rio told reporters that the timeline presented by the NTC could be stretched or shortened depending on the situation, but he gave the assurance that the third telco will be named before the end of 2018.

For those who may request to extend the deadline on submission of bids, the government will not wait for them if there are three or four participants that submitted bids and “did their homework,” according to the department.

“We cannot wait for others ... If one lang, we will have to wait,” Rio said.

“We will ask the public if they are willing to wait for six months more,” Rio said, noting that it is quite unlikely as people are getting impatient about the entry of the third telco player.

“Baka patalsikin na kami ng mga tao,” he said.

DICT is targeting to name the third telco player before the end of the year, with September or October as “best case scenario.” —VDS, GMA News