MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government Monday awarded a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Mislatel consortium, officially allowing its operation as the third telco provider in the country.
The consortium, comprised of Mislatel, Udenna Corporation, China Telecom and Chelsea Logistics, posted a P25.7 billion performance bond for their commitments as the new telco player. It is expected to begin commercial operations by 2020.
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President Rodrigo Duterte graced the awarding ceremony at Malacañan Palace which was led by the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Telecommunications Commission.
Dennis Uy, chairman of Udenna, accepted the CPCN.
LOOK: The Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity awarded to Mislatel consortium, allowing it to operate as the Philippines' 3rd telco provider. Mislatel vows to offer 55 mbps of internet speed that covers 84.01% of the population in 5 years. More: https://t.co/6hctdqSKrg pic.twitter.com/joNrVtZB6F
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) July 8, 2019
The consortium promised to offer 55 mbps of internet speed that covers 84.01% of the Philippine population, who ranks among the top social media savvy people worldwide despite having one of the slowest internet in Asia Pacific, in five years.
Mislatel's selection, however, raised concerns over national security amid the involvement of China Telecom, a Chinese government corporation, and Uy's closeness with Duterte.
The consortium would be renamed as Dito Telecommunity Corporation.
The entry of a new telco player is a campaign promise of Duterte to transform the troubled telecommunications sector.