Rio appeals deadline extension for 3rd Telecom player
- Julianne Rose Gabis
- Jan 31, 2018
- 2 min read
Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) acting chief Eliseo Rio Jr announced that he will ask the president for more time for the deadline of the third major telecom player as prospective entrant calls for an extension.
President Duterte heeded the public’s sentiments about the internet speed in the country and ordered the DICT to ensure 3rd player entrance “up and about” by March this year. Rio then announced plans of piloting a “reverse bidding” where a provisional authority will be granted and award the available 3G and 4G frequencies to the winning concessionaire.
Compelled for more time, the DICT acting chief has been actively seeking opinion from differents stakeholders on ways to choose who the 3rd player might be that will give current Telco giants in the country a run for their money.
Further, since the announcement from the president, several companies have been vying to be the 3rd player the country is looking for such as the Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corporation (PT&T), a company led by Lucio Tan Jr, Salvador Zamora II, and Benjamin Bitanga. National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) and the Villar family-led Streamtech Systems Technologies Incorporated expressed their intention to venture into the competition.
Amidst the noise, researchers are arguing that launching a third telco player in 2 months is an unlikely achievement saying that it would take years for a third player to be up and going.
“Completing the technical, legal, and corporate requirements of putting up a full-service telco- offering voice, SMS, and data- operating nationwide will take year,” said Mary Grace Mirandilla-santos, an independent researcher and convener of advocacy group Better Broadband Alliance.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a radio interview that the government is fast-tracking this because people are irritated with the slow internet and dropped calls.