PHdrexisgreat
Honorary Poster
Nabasa ko lang po sa GMA news.
Share ko na din sa inyo para ma-aware yung iba ka ph ntn sa paghihintay ng ikatlong telco sa Philippines. Take time to read.
5 local, 7 foreign firms eyeing Philippines’ third telco slot
Published August 23, 2018 5:19pm
Updated August 23, 2018 5:57pm
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
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
Vietnam telecom firm Viettel eyes Philippine market
Published August 23, 2018 4:38pm
By KHANH VU, Reuters
HANOI — Vietnamese telecommunication company Viettel has set its sights on the Philippines as the next destination in its overseas expansion drive, the company said on Thursday, as the archipelago’s economy clears the way for the entry of a third operator.
Fixing the Philippines’ notoriously patchy and expensive telecom services was a campaign promise of populist President Rodrigo Duterte, who had said late last year that a third player would join the market and end the duopoly of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., which have a combined market capital of about $10.7 billion.
“Viettel is interested in the third license on telecommunications in this market,” the military-run Viettel Group, Vietnam’s largest mobile carrier by subscription numbers, told Reuters in an emailed statement.
“Viettel will thoroughly consider participating in case the conditions of the bidding documents are in line with the strategy of Viettel.”
The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) issued draft rules this month on the entry of a third player, which require foreigners to team up with local partners holding congressional franchises.
Foreign ownership of a telecom firm in the Philippines is capped at 40 percent, although Eliseo Rio, the acting ICT head, told Reuters in a recent interview that moves were underway to change that, so foreigners can raise their stakes later on.
The Philippines has one of the world’s largest rates of average daily social media usage, yet insufficient infrastructure means its 105 million people suffer frequent dropped calls, weak signals and intermittent data.
Viettel has already invested in 10 countries across Asia, Africa and America, and had 43 million subscribers overseas, as of end-2017.
Last month, a Viettel official said the company was also eyeing opportunities in Ethiopia after the government there announced its intention to liberalize key economic sectors including telecommunications.
In June, Viettel and its local partners launched a $1.5 billion 4G network in Myanmar, making them the fourth telecom operator in the country. —Reuters
DICT is eyeing how to recover unused radio frequencies from Globe and PLDT
Published August 23, 2018 2:59pm
Updated August 23, 2018 4:18pm
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is studying how to reclaim radio frequencies that are not being used by telecommunications companies.
It will review all unused radio frequencies to determine which may be reassigned to the upcoming third player in the industry.
“Magkakaroon kami ng review ng lahat ng frequencies. ‘Yung ‘di ginagamit, pwede naming bawiin,” DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. told reporters on Thursday.
The frequencies that will undergo the audit have been awarded, Rio said on the sidelines of a public hearing on the draft terms of reference for selecting the third telco player.
“Everything awarded na. Ngayon, if they are being used or not, or if they are not being used efficiently, ‘yun ang aming gagawan ng study kung paano kunin ulit,” he said.
Two years ago, Globe and PLDT gave their respective positions on unused frequencies.
“The government should not allow assigned spectrum to remain idle and unutilized, since this would be detrimental and injurious to the public interest,” PLDT Regulatory Affairs and Policy Office head Ray Espinosa said in 2016.
“We support this to finally eradicate stock piling of frequency assets and not using it. These limited assets should be used for public benefit by institutions that have the capability to use them,” said Globe senior vice president Yolanda Crisanto.
During the public hearing Thursday, lawyer Ruel Soriano raised concerns about the available frequencies under the terms of reference. He said what is available is thin and not enough for a company to compete with PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.
The radio frequencies that would be made available for the third telco are 700 megahertz (MHz), 2,100 MHz, 200 MHz, 2.5 gigahertz (GHz), 3.3 GHz, and 3.5 GHz.
“Itong frequencies na available are already interesting enough, kasi pagpasok na pagpasok nitong third telco, halos wala silang subscribers. Siguro for the first half of next year, mga six months after, wala pa silang isang milyon. So they don’t need that much frequency,” Rio noted.
“By the time that they will really need the frequencies at kulang na sila, that time umiiral na 'yung guidelines and policies namin, and maybe, may batas na tayo,” he said.
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said that the spectrum included in the terms of reference is sufficient to start building a network and compete.
That is why it is important to recover and reassign the unused frequencies assigned to the telcos for the benefit of the new player, Rio noted.
He said they are looking at increasing the spectrum users’ fee to compel holders to surrender the frequency to the government.
“Ang hirap kasing magbawi ... Dadalihin kami sa korte niyan. So ang kinakwan namin is … kasi ang pagbigay natin ng frequency is administrative. Pero pagkuha will be quasi-judicial na pwedeng dalhin sa court. Nagiisip kami ng isang paraan para pati ‘yung pag-withdraw will be administrative din,” Rio noted.
“Like, for example, pwede namin taasan ‘yung spectrum users fee sa mga frequencies na hindi ginagamit. It becomes uneconomical for them to hold on to that. So isa ‘yun sa mga pwede naming gawin,” he said.
advertisement
Rio said the DICT is advocating for a law on the equitable distribution of frequencies. But while the law is pending, the department will come up with guidelines and policies on the matter.
“Ginagawa na namin actually ngayon. Except kailangan pa ng konting refinement before we really come up with the policy guidelines na magiging guidance para sa NTC to implement ...”
The guidelines will also determine the efficient use of frequencies that are already awarded, especially taking into consideration the bandwidth in relation to the network traffic and the number of subscribers actually usi
Share ko na din sa inyo para ma-aware yung iba ka ph ntn sa paghihintay ng ikatlong telco sa Philippines. Take time to read.
5 local, 7 foreign firms eyeing Philippines’ third telco slot
Published August 23, 2018 5:19pm
Updated August 23, 2018 5:57pm
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
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
Vietnam telecom firm Viettel eyes Philippine market
Published August 23, 2018 4:38pm
By KHANH VU, Reuters
HANOI — Vietnamese telecommunication company Viettel has set its sights on the Philippines as the next destination in its overseas expansion drive, the company said on Thursday, as the archipelago’s economy clears the way for the entry of a third operator.
Fixing the Philippines’ notoriously patchy and expensive telecom services was a campaign promise of populist President Rodrigo Duterte, who had said late last year that a third player would join the market and end the duopoly of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., which have a combined market capital of about $10.7 billion.
“Viettel is interested in the third license on telecommunications in this market,” the military-run Viettel Group, Vietnam’s largest mobile carrier by subscription numbers, told Reuters in an emailed statement.
“Viettel will thoroughly consider participating in case the conditions of the bidding documents are in line with the strategy of Viettel.”
The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) issued draft rules this month on the entry of a third player, which require foreigners to team up with local partners holding congressional franchises.
Foreign ownership of a telecom firm in the Philippines is capped at 40 percent, although Eliseo Rio, the acting ICT head, told Reuters in a recent interview that moves were underway to change that, so foreigners can raise their stakes later on.
The Philippines has one of the world’s largest rates of average daily social media usage, yet insufficient infrastructure means its 105 million people suffer frequent dropped calls, weak signals and intermittent data.
Viettel has already invested in 10 countries across Asia, Africa and America, and had 43 million subscribers overseas, as of end-2017.
Last month, a Viettel official said the company was also eyeing opportunities in Ethiopia after the government there announced its intention to liberalize key economic sectors including telecommunications.
In June, Viettel and its local partners launched a $1.5 billion 4G network in Myanmar, making them the fourth telecom operator in the country. —Reuters
DICT is eyeing how to recover unused radio frequencies from Globe and PLDT
Published August 23, 2018 2:59pm
Updated August 23, 2018 4:18pm
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is studying how to reclaim radio frequencies that are not being used by telecommunications companies.
It will review all unused radio frequencies to determine which may be reassigned to the upcoming third player in the industry.
“Magkakaroon kami ng review ng lahat ng frequencies. ‘Yung ‘di ginagamit, pwede naming bawiin,” DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. told reporters on Thursday.
The frequencies that will undergo the audit have been awarded, Rio said on the sidelines of a public hearing on the draft terms of reference for selecting the third telco player.
“Everything awarded na. Ngayon, if they are being used or not, or if they are not being used efficiently, ‘yun ang aming gagawan ng study kung paano kunin ulit,” he said.
Two years ago, Globe and PLDT gave their respective positions on unused frequencies.
“The government should not allow assigned spectrum to remain idle and unutilized, since this would be detrimental and injurious to the public interest,” PLDT Regulatory Affairs and Policy Office head Ray Espinosa said in 2016.
“We support this to finally eradicate stock piling of frequency assets and not using it. These limited assets should be used for public benefit by institutions that have the capability to use them,” said Globe senior vice president Yolanda Crisanto.
During the public hearing Thursday, lawyer Ruel Soriano raised concerns about the available frequencies under the terms of reference. He said what is available is thin and not enough for a company to compete with PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.
The radio frequencies that would be made available for the third telco are 700 megahertz (MHz), 2,100 MHz, 200 MHz, 2.5 gigahertz (GHz), 3.3 GHz, and 3.5 GHz.
“Itong frequencies na available are already interesting enough, kasi pagpasok na pagpasok nitong third telco, halos wala silang subscribers. Siguro for the first half of next year, mga six months after, wala pa silang isang milyon. So they don’t need that much frequency,” Rio noted.
“By the time that they will really need the frequencies at kulang na sila, that time umiiral na 'yung guidelines and policies namin, and maybe, may batas na tayo,” he said.
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said that the spectrum included in the terms of reference is sufficient to start building a network and compete.
That is why it is important to recover and reassign the unused frequencies assigned to the telcos for the benefit of the new player, Rio noted.
He said they are looking at increasing the spectrum users’ fee to compel holders to surrender the frequency to the government.
“Ang hirap kasing magbawi ... Dadalihin kami sa korte niyan. So ang kinakwan namin is … kasi ang pagbigay natin ng frequency is administrative. Pero pagkuha will be quasi-judicial na pwedeng dalhin sa court. Nagiisip kami ng isang paraan para pati ‘yung pag-withdraw will be administrative din,” Rio noted.
“Like, for example, pwede namin taasan ‘yung spectrum users fee sa mga frequencies na hindi ginagamit. It becomes uneconomical for them to hold on to that. So isa ‘yun sa mga pwede naming gawin,” he said.
advertisement
Rio said the DICT is advocating for a law on the equitable distribution of frequencies. But while the law is pending, the department will come up with guidelines and policies on the matter.
“Ginagawa na namin actually ngayon. Except kailangan pa ng konting refinement before we really come up with the policy guidelines na magiging guidance para sa NTC to implement ...”
The guidelines will also determine the efficient use of frequencies that are already awarded, especially taking into consideration the bandwidth in relation to the network traffic and the number of subscribers actually usi