MANILA – The delay in the entry of a third telecommunications player that would challenge the dominance of Globe and PLDT sends a bad message to consumers and the business sector, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said recently.
Pimentel was disappointed by the failure of the Oversight Committee for the Entry of a New Major Player in the Public Telecommunications Market to finalize the terms of reference (TOR) for the selection and assignment of radio frequencies for the new telecommunications company.
“It is extremely disappointing given the pressing need to break the telecommunications duopoly to encourage competition in the industry and improve services for the millions of Filipinos who use mobile phones,” said Pimentel, chairman of the trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship committee.
“Go on social media or talk to the man on the street; the complaints are the same, regardless of the telco provider: weak signal, disappearing loads, and slow data speeds. Consumers are being held captive by the absence of alternatives,” he added.
He urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the member-agencies of the Oversight Committee to get their acts together and formulate the TOR.
“What kind of message does it send to the business sector when the government agencies involved in an urgent initiative such as this cannot get on the same page? Our country is like a restaurant that has a sign that says it is open for business, but the chefs have yet to decide on what to serve,” the former Senate President said.
DICT Acting secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. earlier admitted that there have been delays in the drafting of the guidelines for the selection of the third telco player, but stressed that the effort is not yet “dead.”
But instead of naming the third telco player during President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, as previously assured by the DICT, Rio said the announcement will happen “definitely before the end of the year.”
Pimentel expressed concern that the business community would be discouraged by the pace at which the agencies involved were proceeding with the drafting of the TOR, especially in light of the government’s commitment to make it easier for investors to do business in the country as reflected in the passage of RA 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business law.
He said that while he understood that the members of the Oversight Committee have different perspectives on the issues involved in the TOR, “it is the DICT’s responsibility, as chair of the body, to reconcile these issues and work with its co-members to come up guidelines that will incentivize the entry of a new telco player while protecting the interests of consumers.”
“Two months to finalize a TOR is too long. The Oversight Committee should get things moving because the sooner a third telco player comes in, the better it will be for the consumer,” he said. (GMA News)
