Gov’t to auction frequencies for 3rd telco player

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) plans to auction off frequency spectrums under its revised guidelines for the selection of the third major player in the local telecommunications industry.

The DICT said in a draft memorandum that a bidder with the highest annual capital and operating expenditure for a five-year commitment period shall be selected as the new major telco player. The new telco player shall be subject to the applicable spectrum user fees pursuant to prevailing rules and regulations after the said period.

Participants should have a minimum bid amount of P 36.58 billion, the memorandum said.

“Please note that the minimum bid amount is pegged from the Spectrum User Fees (SUFs) being paid by existing telecommunications companies and does not yet consider the inputs/recommendations of experts from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and best practices from other countries, and hence, is in no way final. Further, while there is a minimum bid amount, in this mode of selection, there will be no cap on the bid amount as the participant who submits the highest bid shall be selected as the New Major Player,” the DICT said in an e-mailed statement to media.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) shall create a Selection Committee consisting of four members. PNA