DICT expects to hold hearings for spectrum reallocation by mid-Feb.

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it expects to hold public hearings for spectrum reallocation by mid-February.

DICT Officer-in-Charge and Undersecretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. said that the DICT has created a technical working group (TWG) to draft a memorandum order (MO) for the reallocation of telecommunications frequencies.

“We have created a TWG to work out the Memorandum Order and the IRR [implementing rules and regulations] for this will be the subject of public hearings we hope by mid-February 2018,” Mr. Rio said in a text message.

Last week, Mr. Rio told Business-World that the agency will study best practices worldwide for allocating frequencies, the bulk of which are currently controlled by incumbents PLDT, Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc.

The Philippine Competition Commission ( PCC) estimates that only 12.8% of the spectrum will be available for a potential third telecom player.

Incumbents PLDT, Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc. added to their advantage last year by acquiring the telecom assets of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), including rights to the coveted 700 megahertz (MHz) frequency band.

The DICT is looking at allocating the remaining uncommitted frequencies to a third player, which could possibly be structured as a consortium, rather than distributing the remaining frequencies to many players, which might lead to buyouts by PLDT and Globe.

Mr. Rio said in a social media post last week that no matter how “financially and technically robust” the third player may be, the frequencies available may not leave the third player in a position to compete.

Malacañang has said that China Telecom Corp. Ltd. was nominated by the Chinese government to invest in the Philippines. It has yet to choose a local partner, as the law provides for only 40% maximum foreign ownership in telecommunications.

Presidential spokesperson Herminio L. Roque said on Wednesday that other foreign players might be considered in case China Telecom does not proceed with its investment in the Philippines, but he said that there are “no indications” that the Chinese company no longer wants to pursue the project. —