NTC to tap independent auditor for valuation of 3G license

MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will consult independent auditors to determine the value of the 3G frequency of Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise (CURE) surrendered by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to the government.

NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba told reporters that the determination of the Cost Recovery Amount (CRA) remains the only item delaying the auction of the 3G frequency of CURE.

Cordoba said the regulator has already finished the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the auction of the 3G frequency and is now seeking the help of three independent auditors to determine the value of the license.

“The only item that still has to be determined is the CRA. We have decided to seek the help of three independent auditors to finalize the said amount,” he stressed.

In a letter to Smart Communications Inc. legal counsel Enrico Espanol, Cordoba said NTC is set to apply Rule 32 of the Rules of Court in connection with the inclusion of associated funding cost as one of the components of the CRA to abbreviate the proceedings.

The provision, he said, states that “the court may order any or all of the issues in a case to be referred to a commissioner to be agreed upon by the parties or to be appointed by the court.”

As used in the rules, the word “commissioner” includes a referee, an auditor and an examiner.

Cordoba said the procedure is consistent with Section I of Rule l9 of the NTC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure wherein “To ensure the commissioners’ independence, it is proposed that NTC point an auditor (such as Commission on Audit) as a member with your company appointing an independent external auditor as another member.

The two members shall then appoint a third member who shall act as chairperson and the three shall then study the nature, validity and computation of the AFC and shall then submit a report to the NTC and your company regarding the matter within an agreed period.

“We already wrote the PLDT Group on this. We will try to nominate our resident COA as the government’s representative to the group to be composed of three independent auditors if that is legally acceptable to the COA,” Cordoba said.

The PLDT Group wants to recover P2.215 billion from the sale of CURE’s 3G frequency.

For his part, PLDT head of regulatory affairs and policy Ray Espinosa said in a text message that the company is amenable to the decision of NTC.

“We welcome it and have conveyed this to the NTC,” Espinosa said.

Espinosa earlier said the PLDT Group through Smart was willing to bid P5 billion for the 3G frequency it surrendered last year as part of conditions for the acquisition of Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel).