NOW Telecom franchise gets 25-year extension

NOW Telecom Company, Inc.’s legislative franchise has been extended for another 25 years.

The NOW Corporation affiliate said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that on Feb. 22, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 10972 which extends NOW Telecom’s franchise until 2043.

“With the said law, NOW Telecom, as a telecommunications company, now has the privileges similar to those granted to existing dominant players in the industry,” the disclosure read.

Republic Act (RA) No. 10972, which was first drafted in July last year, renews the old RA No. 7940 to allow the franchise to build, operate, and maintain mobile radio systems within and without the Philippines for 25 years.

The act will take effect 15 days after it is published either in the Official Gazette or any general circulation newspaper.

NOW Telecom Mel V. Velarde said in a Facebook post that this would mean that they have secured a “tri-mega franchise.”

Formerly known as Infocom Communications Network, Inc., NOW Telecom is one of the three telecommunication companies vying take the third slot as one of the major players in the industry. The Department of Information and Communications Technology had announced some of the requirements needed to qualify for the slot, such as having a net worth of at least P10 billion, no liabilities, and that the company should be 60% Filipino-owned.

Now Corp.’s shares on Friday closed P.66 or 4.39% higher at P15.70 from Thursday’s P15.04. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato