SMC set to offer voice, text messaging

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is looking to offer voice and text messaging services this year as it awaits the bidding for a 3G license from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

“Within a year, we will be able to offer voice and SMS (short message service) because we are waiting for the 2100 (band) bidding,” he said.

He said the government has made a pronouncement that the 3G license would be up for bidding soon.

Last year, the NTC required the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. to divest itself of Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise (CURE) as a condition to the approval of its acquisition of a majority stake in Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc.CURE owns the 10 Mhz (megahertz) 3G frequency in the 2100 band.

SMC is involved in the telecommunications business through Bell Tell Communication Philippines, Inc. (BellTel) and Liberty Telecoms Holdings, Inc.

BellTel is currently in the process of preparing to launch its mobile phone business.

Meanwhile, Liberty Telecoms has set its capital expenditures at P1.1 billion this year as it intends to grow its subscribers by putting up fourth generation (4G) network infrastructure outside of Metro Manila.

“This would be lower than last year because we completed the roll-out of 4G network in Metro Manila last year,” Liberty Telecoms treasurer Paul Bernard Causon told reporters yesterday following the firm’s stockholders meeting.

He said the capital expenditures would come from internally generated funds as well as infused capital from its shareholders.

He said the firm is looking to expand by deploying network infrastructure in Northern and Southern Luzon as well as in Cebu.

The firm, he said, intends to grow its subscribers to its mobile broadband network services this year, which stood at almost 700,000 last year.

Liberty Telecoms is behind the wireless broadband service wi-tribe.