News
The government of The Philippines is trying to attract international companies to partner with Filipino firms and create a third telco to enter the country’s stagnating telecommunications market
The Philippines’ president, Rodrigo Duterte, has created an oversight committee to ensure the smooth entry of the country’s proposed third telco into the Filipino telecoms sector.
The committee will be charged with assisting the country’s National Telecommunications Committee in producing the Terms of Reference for the assignment of radio frequencies. It will also be instrumental in lobbying for government support as and when required.
“The entry of a new major player in the telecommunications market is a matter of paramount national interest which shall redound to be the benefit of the public by ensuring genuine competition in the country’s telecommunications industry,” President Duterte told members of the press in Manilla.
The formation of the oversight committee is a crucial step in bringing the illusive third telco to market. As recently as December 2017, president Duterte said that he wanted the country’s third telco to be up and running by the end of the first quarter of 2018. Duterte is said to be growing impatient with the amount of time it is taking to woo potential suitors for the role (Filipino law stipulates that any foreign firms entering the market must do so through a partnership with a Filipino firm).
The formation of the oversight committee will help to streamline the bureaucracy and governmental red tape, and Duterte hopes, speed up the process of bringing a third payer to the Filipino market.
