spot_img
28.1 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Congress, PCC urged to review telecom sale

- Advertisement -

A non-government organization urged Congress and the Philippine Competition Commission to review the P70-billion deal between duopoloy Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc. and San Miguel Corp. that may restrict competition in the local telecommunications market.

The Foundation for Economic Freedom strongly urged the PCC to review the deal  immediately and expeditiously, and take appropriate action as the facts warrant.

“The PCC should take into account that it is mandated by Republic Act No. 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act to implement the national competition policy and prohibit anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, and merger or acquisition agreements that substantially prevent, restrict or lessen competition in the market,” FEF said.

The PCC said in a statement it would assert all its powers regarding the acquisition of San Miguel’s telecommunications assets by PLDT and Globe.

FEF also asked Congress to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation and exercise its powers to amend, alter, or repeal the franchises of public utility operators when the common good so requires.

- Advertisement -

“We also urge Congress to liberalize key sectors in the economy and lift the nationality restrictions on foreign investments by amending the economic provisions of the Constitution, the Public Services Act, and sector-specific

laws such as Republic Act No. 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines to provide consumers the benefits of the efficiency of market competition,” FEF said.

In as much as the telecommunications spectrum is a public and scarce resource  that is allocated by the National Telecommunications  Commission, the NGO  called on the incoming NTC commissioner of the Duterte administration to review its spectrum allocation to serve the common good.

FEF’s statement came after PLDT and Globe entered a deal to acquire the telecom business of San Miguel to be able to access the powerful 700 megahertz owned by the latter.

The 700-MHz band, located above the TV broadcast channels, penetrates buildings and walls and covers larger areas. Mobile wireless service providers in other countries have been using the spectrum to offer mobile broadband services.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its ‘BBB+’ long-term corporate credit rating on PLDT.

“We also affirmed our ‘axA+’ long-term Asean regional scale rating on the fixed line and wireless service provider. At the same time, we affirmed our ‘BBB+’ long-term issue rating on PLDT’s senior unsecured notes,” it said.

“We affirmed the ratings because we expect that PLDT’s capital structure will not materially deteriorate despite its high spending on spectrum acquisitions. However, we revised our assessment of PLDT’s stand-alone credit profile downward to ‘bbb+’ from ‘a-’ to reflect the company’s increasing leverage,” S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Wei Kiat Ng said.

“We believe the spectrum acquisition will support PLDT’s operations and consolidate its market position in the highly competitive Philippine telecom industry,” Ng added.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles