We have yet another aspirant for the third telco spot in the Philippines.
Chavit Singson’s LCS group joined forces with the consortium of TierOne Communications in an attempt to be the third biggest telecommunications provider in the country.
The former Ilocos Sur governor and TierOne’s chairman, Jonathon Bentley-Stevens, was at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) office on October 8 to purchase the required bid documents.
TierOne is a Davao-based internet provider in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which also has 17 more companies under its umbrella from other industries like power, network and infrastructure, advertising, and more.
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LCS Group and TierOne are joined by at least 5 other companies who purchased bidding documents from the NTC.
One of them includes Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corporation and Mel Velarde’s NOW Corporation.
The bid documents costs at Php1 million, with each bidder required to provide a Php700 Million cash out for participation security.
To be selected as the third telco provider, participating companies should have the Highest Committed Level of Service (HCLoS). This includes having the capacity to provide at least 5Mbps of internet speeds and must have at least Php40 billion of capital and operational money for a 5-year commitment period.
The draft rules provide the following criteria for selection: 40% for national population coverage, 40% for annual capital and operational expenditure, and 20% for minimum average speed.
The Philippine government targets to finally select the third telco provider before the year ends, and hopefully, have it up and running by next year.
Source: Rappler