BellTel hires Siemens to put up land lines

Bell Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (BellTel) has made a last ditch attempt to avoid cancellation of its license by signing a multi-million peso deal with Siemens of Germany to put up 150,000 landlines before its October 2000 deadline.

Dieter Hansen, Siemens Inc. senior vice president for information and communications network, said yesterday that they are set to start installing the phone lines in two or three months.

However, he added that everything still depends on how BellTel could give assurance that it has the financial capability to pay for the equipment and sustain its operations.

Hansen said that the project will entail a cost ranging from P200 million to as high as P400 million depending on the technology that will be utilized.

Thus, he pointed out that they cannot proceed without a guarantee that their work will not be in vain.

So far, BellTel, which is owned by the Ortigas-Puyat-Maramba group, has not announced any agreement with foreign investors who could provide the much needed funds for the projects.

Edgardo Cabarios, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) common carriers division chief, said that although BellTel may not lose its license once it is able to beat the three-year telephone roll-out deadline, the company will still have to explain the delay in completing its obligation and why it should not be penalized.

Cabarios said it is unlikely that BellTel could finish installing the required 300,000 landlines within six months or even 80 percent of the mandated figure since so far, it has only forged a contract for 150,000 lines.

Earlier, NTC Commissioner Joseph Santiago said BellTel is in danger of losing its license to offer international toll and local exchange network services because of its zero performance.

Under Republic Act 7925 or the Telecommunications Law, zero compliance would mean cancellation of license.

Santiago even noted that the telecom business is very capital intensive and unless BellTel has "billions and billions" of pesos to spend for the project, the chance of its fulfilling its commitments is nil.