CA denies NOW Telecom plea

CA’s Special Ninth Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Now Telecom seeking the reversal of its 21 September 2023 decision which denied its petition for mandamus filed against the NTC

NOW Telecom Company Inc., which is vying to become the country’s third major telecommunications provider, suffered another setback after the Court of Appeals or CA affirmed with finality its last year’s decision denying the company’s plea to compel the National Telecommunications Commission to comply with the orders issued by the Anti-Red Tape Authority allowing it to operate a cellular mobile telephone service within specific frequency ranges.

Associate Justice Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Viordon in a four-page resolution she wrote, the CA’s Special Ninth Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Now Telecom seeking the reversal of its 21 September 2023 decision which denied its petition for mandamus filed against the NTC.

The CA said it found the motion The CA found the motion for reconsideration to be a “mere rehash” of its previous arguments in its petition, which has already been addressed and ruled upon by the court.

No new issues

It declared that the telecommunication firm failed to raise new issues, interpose new compelling arguments, or present new credible evidence in its MR which would warrant a reconsideration or reversal of our decision.

The Supreme Court upheld the denial of NOW Telecom to halt the NTC from enforcing the provisions of its memorandum circular imposing certain qualifications and restrictions concerning the entry of participants to become new major players in the telecom industry.

Mislatel prevails

Consequently, NOW Telecom was defeated by Mislatel Consortium, a partnership between Udenna Corporation and China Telecom, in the 2018 bid for a new major player in the telecommunications industry.

Mislatel subsequently transformed into Dito Telecommunity Corp.