Mislatel secures permit to operate
Credit to Author: LISBET K. ESMAEL| Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2019 16:20:37 +0000
THE Mislatel Consortium finally received on Monday night the permit and frequencies it needs to begin operating as the Philippines’ third major telecommunications player, eight months after its selection by the government.
In a ceremony in Malacañang, Dennis Uy, founder and chairman of Udenna Corp. and unit Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. — two members of the Filipino-Chinese consortium, with Beijing-run China Telecommunications Corp. completing the group — accepted from President Rodrigo Duterte the certificate of public convenience and necessity in the presence of other officials, led by Information Secretary Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan.
The consortium also received the frequencies, which are in the 700 and 2100 megahertz; and 2.5, 3.3 and 3.5 gigahertz bands.
This came after the three-member group submitted its P25.7-billion performance bond for its commitment to challenge the so-called duopoly of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.
Monitoring Mislatel’s committed level of services would begin once the government handed over the certificate, Information Senior Undersecretary for Operations Eliseo Rio Jr. had said.
Under its five-year commitment period, Mislatel promised to provide speeds of 27 megabits per second (Mbps) in the first year and 55 Mbps in the next four. It also promised coverage of 37.03 percent of the population in the first year and expand this to 84.01 percent in the fifth.
In a chance interview with Palace reporters, Mislatel spokesman Adel Tamano expressed confidence that the consortium would have its first subscribers by 2020.
“There are a lot of [things dependent on that] — setting up the network, commercial arrangements and many [others]. But we are eyeing 2020…. The exact month, I can’t give you that….” he said.
According to Tamano, the network the group would be rolling out would be Fourth Generation (4G) Volte (voice over long-term evolution), which is Fifth Generation (5G)-ready.
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