Digitel cellphone service faces further delays

Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) may have to wait longer before receiving a decision on its application to operate a cellular phone network.

National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) chief Joseph Santiago said yesterday that the regulatory body still does not know what to do with the Gokongwei firm. He admitted that Digitel's application has not been evaluated by the commission although it has undergone public hearings ahead of Bayan Telecommunications Inc. (BayatTel).

BayanTel received its provisional authority (PA) to offer a similar service two weeks ago and is expected to start operations within year.

"It (the application) has not even reached a point where we will discuss it en banc so any news will be very, very premature because we have not deliberated on it," he said.

Santiago explained that unlike BayanTel, Digitel is facing a case before the Court of Appeals which was filed by another mobile phone provider, Express Telecommunications Co. (Extelcom) where BayanTel has a 46.6-percent stake.

The appellate court has ordered the NTC to stop the hearings on Digitel's application until it has ruled on Extelcom's petition.

Express Telecom is claiming that radio frequencies are limited and they should be awarded only to existing carriers which may need to expand their capacity to accommodate more subscribers and provide value added services.

Express Telecom also pointed out that the NTC itself issued a ruling in the past that there should only be five players in mobile phone industry to make it competitive.

Santiago, however, said that the order does not apply anymore to the current situation since with the functional mergers between Smart Communications Inc. and Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel); Globe Telecom and Isla Communications Co. (Islacom); and eventually Express Telecom and BayanTel, there are effectively three players left in the field.