DICT issues revised third player draft; bidding expected by October

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) released a new draft memorandum circular (MC) outlining the selection terms for the third entrant in the telecommunications industry, which tightened some track-record requirements for prospective bidders while loosening some financial criteria.

DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. told on Wednesday that the latest draft of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the so-called “third player” incorporates revisions based on stakeholder input during the public hearing.

“This starts the legal process for the selection of the third telco because you have to undergo a legal process that we cannot short-cut in coming up with a memorandum circular,” he said.

The new draft ToR now requires prospective bidders to have at least 10 years of experience in the industry, from the previous draft’s five-year requirement.

It also removed a requirement to deposit 20% of the committed Annual Capital and Operational Expenditure on top of the performance requirement, which according to Mr. Rio, was one of the issues raised by stakeholders during the public hearing.

“But all of these terms are still draft terms, (which the stakeholders) can now comment on,” he noted.

The public hearing on the new draft is scheduled for Aug. 23. Mr. Rio said position papers and comments from each of the stakeholders must be considered before finalizing the MC.

“When the MC of the ToR becomes effective, that’s the time stakeholders and contenders can start obtaining bid documents. We’ll give them one month to complete the documents and bidding will be done end of October,” he added.

The government is looking to find a third player to compete with the duopoly of PLDT, Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc. The oversight committee on the project has agreed to base the selection of the third player based on highest committed level of service (HCLoS).

The HCLoS selection system assigns weights to various performance criteria, such as population coverage and investment commitments over five years, which constitute 40% each of the available points for evaluating potential third players. The other 20% weighting goes to performance metrics like broadband speed.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte said in his State of the Nation Address last month that his preference for a third player is one that can render “best possible services at reasonably accessible prices.”

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