China Telecom may be Philippines’ 3rd telecoms provider: officials

State-run China Telecom Corp could become the Philippines’ third telecoms player, officials of the Southeast Asian nation said on Sunday, as the government looks to stir up competition to improve services.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte last month offered China the “privilege” of challenging a longstanding duopoly that has frustrated consumers because of slow and intermittent Internet and mobile phone services.

“The Chinese government selected China Telecom to invest in the Philippines upon invitation by President Duterte during the bilateral meeting last November 16,” said Eliseo Rio, secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Chinese companies can’t operate alone in the Philippines and will need a local partner. The government is looking at who that partner will be in this case, with a 60-40 split, Rio said.

China Telecom, one of China’s top three State-backed telecoms companies, said on Monday that no deal has been reached yet.

“China Telecom is undertaking a preliminary study on the investment opportunity in the Philippines and no concrete plan has been determined yet,” a China Telecom spokesman said.

The Philippine constitution’s 40 percent cap on foreign ownership of domestic telecoms companies has deterred interest from multinationals in the market of more than 100 million people. Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the State-owned Chinese company should work with a reputable Philippine company with an existing telecoms franchise.

“The government is fast-tracking this because consumers are getting annoyed with dropped calls and slow Internet connections,” Andanar said in a radio interview on Sunday.

Also seeking to be a major player is Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp, which had said it was talking with China Telecom and Datang Telecom about strategic partnerships to challenge the nation’s dominant duo of PLDT Inc and Globe Telecom Inc.

China Telecom said first-half operating revenue rose 4.1 percent year-on-year to 184.1 billion yuan ($27.8 billion), according to its interim statement.

The company also strengthened its network advantage in such areas as fourth-generation services and the Internet of Things network, the report showed.