THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it is looking to sign in the next two weeks memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with potential common tower providers (CTPs) pending a consensus on a shared telecommunications infrastructure policy.
Outgoing DICT chief Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. said in a text message on Thursday that around four more firms have shown interest in an MoU with the government to start operating as tower companies.
“We are still getting their feedback, but we got their assurance that they are facilitating it so that the MoUs can be signed before the 15th of this month. Some may sign as early as next week… But there is no target date,” he told BusinessWorld.
The four firms were not named, but at least six companies earlier surfaced as interested parties to operate as tower providers in the Philippines: Telenor Group, American Tower Corp., Frontier Tower Associates, China Energy Equipment Co. Ltd., IHS Towers and Globe Telecom Inc., through its GTowers Inc unit.
Before 2018 ended, DICT signed an MoU with ISOC Infrastructures, Inc. and ISOC Asia Telecom Towers, Inc., with the government committing to facilitate the rollout of towers for telco operators.
The 12-month MoU allows ISOC to enter into contracts with telcos to provide cell towers, while the DICT will assist by facilitating government permits, right of way and other requirements for construction.
Mr. Rio said for the rest of the interested CTPs, the MoUs “will contain basically the same provisions as that of ISOC, with some changes that pertain to provisions that concern the particular towerco (tower company).”
The DICT is currently working on an infrastructure sharing policy that will allow telcos to share towers provided by registered tower companies.
The draft memorandum circular presented in September by Ramon P. Jacinto, Presidential Adviser for Economic Affairs and Information Technology Communications, was met with criticism from potential tower companies and the Philippine Competition Commission for limiting the building of towers to only two independent providers for the first four years.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Mr. Rio said Mr. Jacinto’s draft policy “would surely be challenged by the telcos in court” as it violates the franchise of existing telcos Globe and PLDT, Inc., which authorizes them to build their own towers.
“A telco’s franchise has the weight of a law and only another law, not a Department policy, a Memorandum Circular, nor an Executive Order can amend a law,” he said.
Mr. Rio said in a Dec. 20 text message that the signing of MoUs with interested CTPs will help finalize the revised policy.
“For example, if this exercise will show that only two or three CTPs are doing well, then the policy will accredit these, with those losing will be bought out by the fittest,” he told BusinessWorld, adding that CTPs may start operations even without the final memorandum circular. — Denise A. Valdez
