New law extends Smart franchise for another 25 years

President Duterte has signed a law granting SMART Communications, Inc. a 25-year extension of its franchise which was first given to the company in 1992.

Republic Act 10926, signed by Duterte on April 21, 2017, not only extended SMART's franchise which expired last March, but also included perks for the communications giant to enjoy.

These include SMART being exempted from paying Customs duties, tariffs, and taxes for radio telecommunications equipment, electronic telecommunications equipment, machinery, and spare parts needed for its business.

SMART is now also exempted from the previous requirement of making an initial public offering of at least 30 percent of their authorized capital stock within two years from the implementation of the new law.

The new law, however, mandated SMART to conform to the ethics of honest enterprise and shall not use its stations for obscene or indecent transmissions, dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, or to assist subversive or treasonable acts. A penalty clause is also inserted in the new law stating that SMART should pay a fine of R1 million per working day of noncompliance to the submission of its requesite annual report to the Congress.

The law states that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) would collect the fine, separate from the reportorial penalties imposed by the NTC. The NTC would then remit the fine collected to the National Treasury.

The new law also mandates SMART to comply with applicable labor standards "under existing labor laws, rules and regulations and such other issuances as may be promulgated by the Department of Labor and Employment, taking into consideration the nature and peculiarities of the telecommunications industry."

Last month, President Duterte also granted a 25-year extension to the television franchise of Global Media Arts (GMA-7). However, he said he would look into blocking the extension of the franchise of GMA's rival network ABS-CBN. According to Duterte, ABS-CBN's franchise would be fine as long as it adhered to journalistic standards.

Meanwhile, PLDT and mobile unit Smart Communications beefed up the connectivity of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in the country, including the recently-concluded 3-day ASEAN Summit, linking the primary venues and hotels in Metro Manila with fiber-fast connection and wireless LTE speeds.

PLDT boosted its fixed and wireless network in Metro Manila with up to 2Gbps, particularly in areas of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) to ensure successful run of the different meetings, the Conrad Hotel which served as the International Media Center for media covering the conferences, and the Sofitel Plaza for the connectivity requirements of the delegates. Speed tests conducted during the meetings in these venues reached as fast as 300 to 400Mbps per user.