Controversies hound bidding for new telco player

MANILA, Philippines — Controversies surrounding the search for the country’s third telco player continued a day prior to bid submission and opening date as one of the aspirants has again brought its concern before a court.

Publicly-listed Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T) filed yesterday a petition for declaratory relief before the Regional Trial Court of Makati City.

The petition, which comes on the heels of today’s opening of bids, involves the proper application and interpretation of the term “national scale” under Memorandum Circular 09-09-2018, or the rules and regulations on the selection process for a new major player, and its application in favor of PT&T.

PT&T officials, in a press conference yesterday, said the petition was filed to take action on what the company believes is an unequal interpretation and detrimental to local telcos such as PT&T.

PT&T president James Velasquez said the company has managed to secure all requirements in the terms of reference, except for the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)’s certification that it has been in operations on a national scale for the last 10 years.

Velasquez said no issuance has been made by the NTC as of Monday night, prompting the company to file a case yesterday.

“We believe that the NTC’s refusal to issue the said certification is without basis since it is premised on a restrictive interpretation of the term national scale as it heavily favors foreign telecommunications companies who want to participate in the third telco bidding,” he said.

PT&T claimed that the NTC is saying that a foreign telecommunications company’s “regional operations” in its country of operation shall be considered as “national scale” for purposes of qualifying for the third telco bidding.

This means that the foreign telecommunications companies are not required to have operated or offered their services in the country of its operations, the firm said.

However, PT&T said the definition is not applied to local tele-communications companies as it requires the local aspirant to have  operations in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to be considered as having a national scale operation.

“We do not see any valid reason why a distinction should be made between foreign and local telecommunications companies insofar as the interpretation and application of the term national scale applies,” he added.

PT&T director Renato Garcia said the company’s operations should not be questioned as PT&T for the past 50 years has been operating on a national scale.

“PT&T’s track record of 56 years in the telecommunications industry more than satisfies the 10-year requirement of the TOR, and this is proven by its history of offering innovative telecommunication services on a national scale,” Velasquez said.

Velasquez, however, clarified that the company is not asking the court to stop or restrain the third telco bidding slated today.

“PT&T is requesting for the court to correctly interpret the term national scale and in the meantime, compel the NTC to accept the new major player bid that PT&T will submit without the required certification, until such time that the case is finally settled. We believe that NTC should adopt an interpretation that would level the playing field between foreign and local telecommunications companies,” he said.

Sought for comment, the NTC declined to comment as the case has been filed in court.

NOW Telecom, another third telco aspirant, has earlier filed a petition for the issuance of temporary restraining order against the government’s third telco selection process, but it was thumbed down by the Manila Regional Trial Court last month.

NOW Telecom has also requested for preliminary prohibitory injunction over the selection process of the third telco player, as it questioned the insertion of new requirements in the TOR which it said were not taken up during the public hearings.

The company said yesterday it received an order from the RTC of Manila Branch 42 denying its prayer for an injunction.

“The case will continue to trial where NOW intends to prosecute its rights over the subject matter. The company is confident that its entitlements are guaranteed by law and legal proceedings including those in the Supreme Court. NOW Telecoms will exhaust all its legal remedies with respect to its prayer for an injunction,” the company said.

PT&T officials, for their part, said they are hopeful that the court would immediately take action given the urgency of its petition. Nonetheless, the company is submitting its bid today.