PLDT seeks NTC recall of radio frequencies allocated to Altimax

MANILA, Philippines - Telecommunications leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) will ask the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to recall certain radio frequencies of a broadcasting company alledgedly being illegally used by Globe Telecom to provide broadband Internet service.

“These frequencies of Altimax Broadcasting should be returned and be made available to interested parties,” PLDT head for regulatory and policy affairs Ray Espinosa said.

According to Espinosa, a senior Globe official admitted during the NTC hearings on PLDT’s acquisition of Digitel that Globe had acquired Altimax in 2009 and that it was using the broadcasting frequencies of Altimax to provide its WiMax service.

He also cited the 2010 financial statement of Altimax which contained a note saying that Altimax was leasing its frequencies to Globe subsidiary Innove for the amount of P70 million in 2009 and P90 million in 2010.

The PLDT official stressed that the use of broadcast frequencies for telecom applications is illegal. He added that the provisional authority granted by the NTC to Altimax does not allow the company to lease its frequencies without the approval of the commission. “In addition, frequencies cannot be the subject of lease,” he said.

Espinosa raised the issue of Globe’s unauthorized use of radio frequencies in response to the latter’s allegations that PLDT has amassed “excessive” frequencies.

“In the case of PLDT and Smart, we are making efficient and productive use of the frequencies assigned to us. There is no basis legal or factual for Globe’s claims that we have ‘excessive’ frequencies that should be returned to the government and handed over to Globe,” Espinosa said.

Granted a provisional authority in 2000, Altimax is authorized to offer a wireless broadcasting services similar to wireless cable TV using a Multichannel Multipoint Distribution System (MMDS) nationwide.

Under cross-examination by PLDT lawyers during the NTC hearings on the Digitel case, the head of Globe’s network technologies strategy division Emmanuel Estrada said Globe acquired Altimax in 2009 and was using Altimax frequencies for the deployment of it’s WiMax services in various parts of Luzon. 

But Globe, in reaction to PLDT’s press statement asking the NTC to recall its radio frequencies, said its transaction with Altimax was above-board. “This transaction done in 2009 was fully disclosed with the NTC and clearly above board. This is old news that PLDT simply wants to resurrect in view of their existing issues with their merger with Digitel,” Globe corporate and legal affairs head Froilan Castelo countered.

Castelo added: “PLDT should not shift focus on the current issues in relation to the deal. These issues like delayed interconnection, non-compliance with IP peering standards, and virtual monopoly of frequency spectrum should be addressed immediately because of their direct impact to consumers. PLDT should stop misleading the public with spurious attacks and focus on their regulatory and legal battles, foremost of which is that they are a non-Filipino corporation operating as a public utility and entering into a multi-billion transaction vested with public interest.”

But on Globe’s earlier claim that its co-use of the frequency had the approval of the NTC, Espinosa said that “we have searched NTC records and there was no approval as to such co-use.”