Leading telco Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) has said it will not surrender any of its spectrum to Globe Telecom and added it may in fact need more, according to the Manila Times, citing PLDT’s head of regulatory affairs Ray Espinosa.
Espinosa…
Leading telco Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) has said it will not surrender any of its spectrum to Globe Telecom and added it may in fact need more, according to the Manila Times, citing PLDT’s head of regulatory affairs Ray Espinosa.
Espinosa also explained that Globe is looking for more spectrum in order to boost its capabilities, the newspaper wrote.
This report comes a few days after Globe Telecom, number two in the country, reportedly expressed its concern over the merger between PLDT and number three Digital Telecommunications Philippines (Digitel).
It said that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should issue stronger antitrust policies and that spectrum frequencies should be reassigned so that Globe can better compete with the merged entity, according to Reuters.
In late March, PLDT announced it would buy conglomerate JG Summit’s 51.55% stake in Digitel for PhP74.1bn (US$1.7bn).
But since then, concerns over potential competition issues have been voiced repeatedly.
In early April, the NTC reportedly said it wanted to review the transaction between the two telcos, saying it would create a monopoly situation, with PLDT holding three 3G frequencies following the deal.
A few days later, Philippine president Benigno Aquino also asked for a review of the deal to determine whether it would pose competition issues, according to reports.
The companies were not available for comment before the press deadline.
