The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has finished crafting the terms of reference (TOR) that will be used in selecting the third telecommunications player in the country
The TOR contains rules and regulations of the selection process which may still be revised depending on the result of the public consultation with stakeholders.
The DICT will begin conducting public consultations next week as part of their market study.
“Kung ito ay makuha na namin, mga inputs, then ito ay gagawin na naming formal na magkaroon ng memorandum circular (Once we have gathered the inputs, we will formalize it and issue a memorandum circular),” said DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio, Jr.
The undersecretary said President Rodrigo Duterte wants to expedite the selection of the third telco.
Rio himself was hoping to finalize the selection in time for the President’s third State of the Nation Address, but admits that it would be impossible.
“Yun lang ang pwede namin maihabol sa SONA, na may Terms of Reference na na maging effective. At siguro, immediately pagkatapos ng SONA, yung mga interesadong maging third telco, yun ay kukuha ng mga bid documents at alam na natin sino yung mga contestants,” he said.
(That’s all we can give in time for SONA — the Terms of Reference. And maybe, immediately after the SONA, those who are interested in becoming the third telco will get some bid documents; then we’ll know who the candidates will be.)
The DICT will give interested parties two months to put together their bidding proposals from which the government will select the candidate that can guarantee the highest quality service to the public.
On the other hand, Usec. Rio opposes the Department of Finance’s proposal to auction off available signals or frequencies to third telco candidates.
He said Smart Communications and Globe Telecom never bought the available frequencies from the government and auctioning it would be anti-competitive and unfair to the incoming telco who will be charged for frequencies that incumbent telcos acquired for free.
The DICT assured that by September, the country will have its third telco player. — Mon Jocson
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