Chavit-led group boosts bid for 3rd telco slot

A consortium of former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson’s LCS Group of Companies and TierOne Communications International Inc. has strengthened its bid to become the country’s third telco player following an agreement to buy equity into an operator of next-generation high throughput broadband satellites.

The LCS – TierOne consortium signed the agreement recently abroad, but it did not disclose the name of the operator, noting the highly-sensitive nature of the ongoing search for the new major player in the country’s telecommunications industry.

“Our investment in the satellite operator with a footprint capable of delivering broadband across the archipelago, reflects our desire to offer the highest committed level of service, as mandated by the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Telecommunications Commission,” LCS – TierOne consortium chair Jonathon Bentley-Stevens said.

The LCS – TierOne consortium said the deal assures that it would be able to provide the entire country access to satellite-based broadband at much lower costs.

The consortium is expected to make its bid for the third telco selection next week.

The third telco player will be chosen based on the highest committed level of service (HCLoS) for over a period of five years.

The HCLoS model consists of three selection criteria namely, national population coverage with a weight of 40 percent, minimum average broadband speed with 25 percent, and capital and operating expenditure with 35 percent.

For his part, Singson described the consortium’s deal with the broadband satellite operator as a game-changer for the country.

“We are 7,641 islands, we cannot be running a telco the way it’s been run in the past – we have to rely on new technology like broadband satellite for coverage and on our fellow Filipinos for distribution,” Singson said.