Mislatel consortium, the country’s incoming third mobile player, is moving forward with the pre-rollout plan despite a setback in the resolution of its franchise, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) acting secretary Eliseo Rio stated.
“Mislatel have started with their rollout”, Rio added. He said that Mislatel is on track and taking risk of building their towers and improving their layout. But according to the acting secretary, the company can’t still operate until they get the required frequencies and the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN).
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) could not grant Mislatel the license to operate since the transfer of its franchise had to be discussed through a bicameral committee.
“But the Congress is in recess, and the session will be resumed after the election, so the NTC has not received any reply”, Rio said.
The deadline for the Mislatel consortium to meet of qualification requirements had lapsed on February 17.
Mislatel’s plan to start its commercial operation and commencement date of late 2020 has now been moved to early 2021. This is if the NTC will award the CPCN certificate by March.
As far as Mislatel’s submitted rollout plan is concerned, the incoming telco company would have a ready network upon obtaining the certificate. Then they will begin a pre-commercial trial after two months.
The telco will launch its network after six months after the start of a pre-commercial trial. “So there is no delay” Rio stated, referring to the third telco’s rollout plans.
Source: PhilStar