PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed Republic Act (RA) No. 11089 granting the Villar Group’s Streamtech Systems Technologies Inc. a telecommunications franchise for 25 years.
The President has also extended for another 25 years the franchise granted to Notre Dame Broadcasting Corp., a Mindanao-based radio network, by signing RA No. 11099.
Signed on Oct. 18, RA No. 11089 allows Streamtech to “construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain telecommunications systems throughout the Philippines.”
The new law noted that Streamtech “shall secure from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction, installation, and operation of its telecommunications systems and/or facilities.”
Streamtech should “commence” its operations “within one year from the approval of its operating permit by the NTC, or within three years from the effectivity of this Act,” and it should also “operate continuously for two years,” otherwise its franchise will be “deemed ipso facto revoked.”
Among its responsibilities is to “improve and extend its services in areas not served, and in hazard-and typhoon-prone areas that shall be determined by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the NTC.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

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