3rd telco player may be known by Nov. 7, 2018

MANILA, Philippines — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) are ready to fulfill President Duterte’s promise to announce a third telco player by next week.

So far, 10 parties have bought selection documents from the NTC, the latest of which is AMA Telecommunications Corp., which purchased the P1-million bid documents on Wednesday.

The other firms are China Telecommunications Corp., PT&T, NOW Telecom Inc., Telenor ASA Group, Udenna Corp., LCS Group of Companies and Tier 1, Mobiltel Holding GmbH, Converge ICT, and an undisclosed bidder.

The opening of the bid documents is scheduled on Nov. 7, when a “provisional” third telco player will be known.

The NTC said it would be ready to receive bids starting Nov. 5 until 10 a.m. of Nov. 7.

“Opening of bids will immediately follow after the 10 a.m. deadline on Nov. 7,” the NTC said.

According to the NTC, three observers from the Commission of Audit, the Foundation for Media Alternatives, and the Philippine Technological Council have been invited to witness the opening of bids.

The NTC also invited two representatives each from the DICT, Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of Finance, National Security Council, Department of Justice, Philippine Competition Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission to join the technical working group.

Under the final terms of reference issued by the NTC and DICT, the third telco player will be chosen based on the highest committed level of service (HCLoS) for over a period of five years.

The HCLoS model consists of three selection criteria namely, national population coverage with a weight of 40 percent, minimum average broadband speed with 25 percent, and capital and operating expenditure with 35 percent.

A bidder should have a Congressional franchise and a paid capital of at least P10 billion. The participant or one of its members should have experience in the provisioning, delivery and operations of telecommunications services for the last 10 years on a national scale.