Third telco is a response to public clamor for competition in the industry —DICT

The initiative to allow a third major telecommunications player stemmed from public clamor to break the so-called duopoly of Globe Telecom and PLDT-Smart through more competition, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said Friday.

“Kung mapuna niyo there is clamor from our people to have competition for Globe and Smart,” Rio said in an interview on GMA News’ “News to Go.”

He was asked why the government is opening the telecommunications industry to a new player.

Because the industry is considered a duopoly dominated by rivals Globe and PLDT, calls have been made by no less than President Duterte and the public at large for a third telco player to raise the quality of service while lowering the costs to consumers.
“Ito ay naging campaign promise ng Presidente noong 2016. Sinabi niya I’m going to improve the telecomm industry in the country. Itong pagpasok ng third telco is part of the promise,” Rio said.

At least five local and seven foreign companies are interested in filling the country’s need for a third telecommunications network provider.

The local firms are Philippine Telephone and Telegraph, Now Corp., Converge ICT Solutions, Transpacific-Broadband, and TiereOne.

The foreign firms China Telecom, Korea’s KT Corp. and LG U+, Japan’s KDDI Corp., Vietnam’s Viettel, Norway’s Telenor, and US telco giant AT&T.

The third telco player must commit to provide the highest minimum connectivity speed at the lowest subscription rate, Rio said.

Interested bidders need to have a “very deep pocket” and commit to spend a minimum of P40 billion for annual capital expenditures for five years.

These will ensure that the winning bidder has the financial and technical capability and would not end up being bought by the dominant players, Rio earlier said. —VDS, GMA News