EX-ILOCOS Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson backed TierOne Communications and its partner Sear Telecom on Friday filed a motion for reconsideration with the National Telecommunications Commission to challenge the consortium’s disqualification as the country’s new major telecoms player.
Singson threatened to sue Mislatel Consortium for violation of their exclusive franchise agreement, saying TierOne Communications had invested millions of pesos in shares with Mislatel.
“Why did Mislatel Consortium enter into a partnership with Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp.? We bought shares from Mislatel. It should have not talked to Uy. We sensed we are being fooled,” he told reporters.
“That is fraud. At the soonest possible time, we will be filing a case. Our lawyers are preparing the case,” he said.
Raoul Creencia, Singson’s lawyer, said “Mislatel misled us. It committed misrepresentation, a violation of the bidding rules.”
Eduardo Millana, Sear Telecom’s chief technical officer, said the Singson-led consortium could offer a “very fast Internet service nationwide.”
“We have 20 times faster service [than any other providers],” Singson said.
In his plea, Millana told the NTC’s selection committee secretariat that, “with due respect, this declaration deserves to be reexamined as Mislatel’s submitted bidding agreement is a total falsity tainted with contractual fraud and misrepresentation.
“Convinced that the public has the right to know, Sear’s representative attempted to bring this to the Supreme Court’s attention the same day, but a particular ground rule has been cited that foiled such effort. Hence this request.”
According to Millana, TierOne Communications could provide a 55-mbps Internet service on its first year of operation.
On the other hand, Mislatel Consortium posted a performance bond of P14 billion and promised to deliver an Internet speed of 55-mbps on its fifth year.
The National Telecommunications Commission on Wednesday declared the Davao City-based businessman Dennis Uy’s Mislatel Consortium as the country’s third provisional major telco.
Udenna Corp. is a subsidiary of Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. and China Telecommunications Corp.
The government had disqualified TierOne Communications and Sear Telecom for failure to post a security fee of P700 million, while Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. was also rejected for failure to submit complete requirements.
“I have a manager’s check of P700 million with me right now. If the NTC will allow me to pay now, I will do so,” Singson said.