“If everything goes well, there are no major setbacks ahead, we can have

the third telco by the end of September or early October.

Selecting the third telecommunications players would be done on the basis of the highest committed level of service or HCLoS rather than by auction, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Friday.

This was bared by DICT officer-in-charge Eliseo Rio who has backed this mode of selecting the competitors to Smart Communication and Globe Telecom over the proposed auction method preferred by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, for instance.

The HCLoS mode would not require so-called up-front costs to whoever will eventually be selected to compete with the Smart-Globe duopoly as the basis for the anticipated entry would depend entirely on how the new player crafts and presents its business plan.

Rio particularly told a news conference that the alternative auction process is now off the table.

The DICT prefers the points-based HCLoS because it was seen to provide the best service to the widest number of customers and subscribers in the fastest possible time.

Rio earlier had said the method is better even if the frequencies were given for free because “Globe and Smart were given their frequencies at no cost as well.”

He also clarified that a so-called “hybrid” approach to selecting the third telco players pertain for the most part to the HCLoS option in tandem with making appropriate adjustments to the rate at which the telcos are charged for the use of the spectrum assets of the government.

Rio acknowledged the rates have not been updated the past many years and that there is now the need to recalibrate them to generate funds for the government.

He stated, “It’s going to be make or break by Friday. It’s so delayed already. I’m putting all my cards on the table.”

Dominguez strongly opposed the HCLoS method and described it as “weak,” that would give a “stupendous amount” to the new player to utilize government assets. He said the government deserves a fair return for the use of its frequencies.

With the roadblock on terms of reference already hurdled, the DICT could name the new telecommunications player by September this year, based on its timeline.

Rio said earlier “If everything goes well, there are no major setbacks ahead, we can have the third telco by the end of September or early October.” He added, “The third telco will come in a playing field where it has to compete with Globe and Smart. Globe and Smart (have) all the subscribers already once the third telco comes in. It has to attract (some of) the subscribers of Globe and Smart. Of course, Globe and Smart will also put up their own marketing strategies and they have to retain subscribers. This is the fight where the third telco will be coming into.”

The DICT and the National Telecommunications Commission first published the selection rules only in June this year.

The then presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte previously vowed to improve the country’s telecommunications services and invite a third telco player if elected into office. He set a March 2018 deadline for the new player. He has created an oversight committed to haste the selection.

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