In a 34-page decision, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) denied separate motions for reconsideration filed by Pacific Wireless, Inc., Multimedia Telephony, Inc. (MTI), Bayan Telecommunications, Inc. (BayanTel), Next Mobile, Inc. and AZ Communications, Inc.
The companies earlier asked the commission to overturn an order issued almost three years ago that barred them from offering 3G services.
“The motions for reconsideration filed by [the companies] are hereby denied for lack of merit, the movants having failed to show sufficient reason for the commission to set aside the findings in the consolidated order dated Dec. 28 2005,” The NTC said.
Commissioner Ruel V. Canobas and Deputy Commissioners Jorge V. Sarmiento and Jaime M. Fortes Jr. signed the resolution.
The NTC promulgated a circular outlining the guidelines on the allocation and assignment of 3G radio frequency bands for telecommunications companies in August 2005.
Three months later, it found that only Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. and Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise, Inc. (CURE) — a company that Smart has since bought — were allowed to offer 3G.
The regulator denied the applications of Pacific Wireless and AZ Communications, saying they “could not be counted on to be financially capable to undertake the more expensive obligation of 3G installation and operation.”
Under the NTC guidelines, potential 3G operators must have a total investment of at least P400 million.
Pacific argued that it did not have the license it was applying for in the first place, hence, the company could not be expected to have invested in the service yet.
“The provision could not have required [Pacific Wireless] to [put in the] actual investments in those networks when it does not yet have the license for [3G services], the company said.
It added that it should have sufficed that it was ready to spend the money once it gets the 3G license.
Meanwhile, AZ Communications argued that the commission’s 70:30 debt-to-equity rule only covers old telecommunication companies.
But the NTC said applicants are ranked not based on projected capitalization but on existing capital at the time of the application.
It also said AZ Communications had existed at the time of its application, having been granted a franchise in 2000.
Meanwhile, MTI and BayanTel were denied their petitions after failing NTC standards on track record, commitment to roll out facilities and service rates.
The commission likewise denied Next Mobile’s application given its failure to pay supervision and regulatory as well as users’ fees worth more than P135 million — a sign of its financial instability.
The company earlier argued that it had asked the regulator to restructure its debts, which the commission never acted upon.
But the NTC said these fees are yearly obligations that Next Mobile should have settled even if it had no pending application for a 3G frequency allocation. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld
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