Selection process for new telco backed by Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is in full support of the third telco selection process amid a case filed by one of the aspirants questioning some of the rules, according to Information and Communications Technology acting Secretary Eliseo Rio.

Rio said he had informed Duterte about the case filed last week by NOW Telecom against the government for alleged violations in the new major player terms of reference (TOR). He said the President replied, “just do what’s right.”

“The President is supporting us. The President came up with an oversight committee. The oversight committee approved all of these rules and regulations,” Rio said.

The Manila Regional Trial Court last Friday denied NOW Telecom’s application for a temporary restraining order. A hearing is scheduled on Oct. 23 and 24 for the firm’s request for preliminary prohibitory injunction.

“NOW Telecom emphasizes that it did not ask the court to stop the bidding. It wants the bidding process to continue, and for the bids to be opened by Nov. 7. NOW Telecom only asked the court to order the NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) to stop implementing those provisions in the memorandum circular that are detrimental to its rights,” the firm said in a statement.

NOW Corp. president and chief executive officer Mel Velarde earlier said the company prefers Duterte to receive all the bidding documents on Nov. 7, noting that it is best if the President, and not the NTC, would be the one to choose the new major player.

“All the rules and regulations that took us almost one year to formulate with all the inputs from different stakeholders, all down the drain because of one who wants to bring it to the President. What is his authority to name the President?” Rio said in response to Velarde’s statement.

“It seems like they are making their own rules. They want to bring it straight to the President,” he added.

Rio said NOW should blame its own actions, and not him, for the decline in its stock prices last week.

The publicly-listed firm NOW Corp. in a statement yesterday said it may file charges against Rio for his “reckless” statement that caused the drop of the company’s shares.

Miguel Lopez, NOW head of Investor Relations, said Rio’s statements damaged the value of the company’s shares in the market and caused the loss of about P7 billion in market capitalization.

Meanwhile, Fiber internet provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is teaming up with South Korea’s largest telecommunications company to participate in the search for the country’s third telco player.

“Converge ICT announced last Friday that they are definitely joining and they are partnering with Korea Telecom,” Information and Communications Technology Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio said.

The Converge ICT and KT Corp. (formerly Korea Telecom) tandem now brings to of nine the parties interested in joining the bidding for the country’s new major player in the telecommunications market.

Companies which have purchased the P1-million bid documents so far are Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp., TierOne Communications International Inc. in partnership with Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson’s LCS Group of Companies, NOW Telecom, Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp., China Telecom, Mobiltel Holding GmbH, and a local company who declined to be identified. 

Converge ICT announced last August strategic partnerships with several local and foreign companies such as KT, LSI-Fibernet Konstruk Corp., and TE Connectivity Subcom for a massive $2-billion nationwide network rollout over the next five years of its pure fiber internet connectivity.

Converge ICT is regarded as the fastest-growing pure fiber internet and other digital consumer-centric services provider in the country today.