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China Telecom has long been rumoured to be the preferred candidate of Filipino President, Roderigo Duterte
China Telecom has officially declared its interest in helping to launch a third telco in the Philippines. The Filipino president, Roderigo Duterte, has long called for the immediate formation of a third telco to breathe new life into the countries stagnant telecoms sector.
President Duterte officially invited applications from Chinese firms to partner with Filipino businesses to launch a third telco back in the fourth quarter of 2017. However, China remained tight lipped on the opportunity, refusing to be drawn on whether it would enter the Filipino market.
However, the Philippines’ DICT secretary, Eliseo Rio, confirmed this week that China Telecom had officially bought selection documents to enter the race to become the country’s third telco.
“China Telecom bought selection documents at 11am today. China Telecom is the second foreign telco to buy these documents after Telenor. This shows telcos confidence in the selection process that only NOW, out of seven, is challenging in court"
In total, it is believed that seven of companies have put their names forward to be considered in the process.
President Duterte has recently claimed that he will personally intervene if the identity of the companies that will go on to form the country’s third telco have not been finalised by December 2018.
Also in the news:
Duterte: New telco in the Philippines by December, or I step in!
Philippines finally names the date for launch of third telco
Globe to hit 95% LTE coverage by year end
