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| Mislatel Named as the Provisional 3rd Telco Player |
As a quick recap, there were 10 interested contenders to become the country’s third telco provider. However, many of them pulled out of the race as NTC strictly implemented rules and guidelines that bidders need to meet.
Earlier today, Converge surprised everyone as they announced their decision not to bid in the NMP program. The company addressed that NTC required them to have an inordinate amount of funds, which wasn’t the same case for the current dominant network players.
“Moreover, a failure to comply is subject to penalties that are not even graduated to consider substantial compliance. For example, the conditions do not provide for a justified delay, even if the committed pace of infrastructure installation is delayed of a refusal by the LGU to issue permits. In contrast, the current players were not subjected to comparative commitments nor penalties nor forfeitures of licenses,” Converge said on their press release.
See Also: Converge Quits PH's Third Telco Race
With this, the search for the next network provider was down to only three bidders, including PT&T, LCS-TierOne of Chavit Singson, and Mislatel Consortium of Davao Businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecom.
However, NTC revealed that only Mislatel was qualified to take the next stage of the selection process, as the two contenders were not able to complete their requirements. LCS-TierOne was disqualified for failing to secure an amount of Php700 million, while PT&T didn’t provide its technical experience certification.
Related: Only Mislatel Passes Third Telco Evaluation – NTC
And after this rollercoaster, NTC finally declared Mislatel as the provisional third telco player. Also known as the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Mislatel recorded a 456.80 points in their Highest Committed Level of Service bid. This includes criteria such as area coverage and internet speed.
DICT also explained that Mislatel will now go through document verification phase which will happen in three regular days.
Meanwhile, both LCS-TierOne and PT&T are said to file a motion for reconsideration.