MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is seeking the help of the Department of Finance (DOF) in bidding out the third generation (3G) license of Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise (CURE) surrendered by dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).
NTC deputy commissioner Carlo Jose Martinez said the agency decided to tap the DOF after the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) informed NTC that it has no jurisdiction over the matter.
“We wanted to get their (GPPB’s) guidance but the problem is that GPPB said this is not a government purchase and is not within their jurisdiction,†Martinez said.
According to him, NTC has informally asked the DOF headed by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to help draft the guidelines for the bidding of the 3G license of CURE.
Martinez said the guidelines including the qualification of the bidders as well as the independent accountants and the floor price would pave the way for the bidding of the 3G license.
The PLDT Group surrendered the 3G frequency of CURE being used by its wireless arm Smart Communications Inc. to NTC in the middle of last year.
Smart acquired CURE from former trade minister Roberto Ongpin in 2008 for a total consideration of P419.54 million. It invested P1 billion in CURE after acquiring it from the Ongpin group.
The divestment of CURE’s 10 megahertz 3G frequency was one of the conditions set by the NTC in approving the sale of the 51.55-percent stake in Digitel of businessman John L. Gokongwei Jr. to the PLDT group for P69.2 billion in 2011.
The PLDT Group wants to recover P2.215 billion from the sale of CURE’s 3G frequency.
The PLDT Group has already tapped accounting giant SGV & Co. as its representative in the three-man team that would determine the value of the 3G license that it surrendered NTC last July.
The three-man team of independent auditors that would determine the cost recovery amount (CRA) of the 3G license of CURE.
The PLDT Group has officially agreed to apply Rule 32 of the Rules of Court in connection with the inclusion of associated funding cost as one of the components of the CRA to abbreviate the proceedings.