National Telecommunications Commission sheds doubt on early 3G bids (Philippines)
The telecom regulator (NTC) has said that the concern of 3G mobile phone licences is unlikely to take place any time soon regardless of the royal approval of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission Act.
Now the frequency allocation bill has become law after its announcement in the Royal Gazette on Sunday, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will act on behalf of the NBTC until its board members are appointed.
According to commission member, Sutham Yunaitham, the 3G auction would remain suspended until the Administrative Court ruled otherwise. Mr Sutham insisted the NTC had the authority to call the auction but its authority was being challenged and no ruling was being made. The NTC was scheduled to auction 3G-2.1GHz licences in late September but CAT Telecom challenged its licensing authority in the Central Administrative Court, which later issued an injunction to suspend the NTC bid. He doesn’t think the legal dispute can be settled within six months. And it is possible that a verdict, no matter what it is, will be appealed.
Under the frequency allocation law, the NBTC must be formed within 180 days of its announcement in the Royal Gazette.
On the broadcasting sector, another commission member, Pana Thongmee-akhom, stated that the industry would grow stronger and be more competitive because of clearer rules. The investors know their directions and they will be more confident in making investments. When the regulators are in place and the rules become clear, they wi’ll see more competition and freedom. Community television should emerge in a year after the formation of the NBTC and the audience should expect to see more quality programmes.
Besides reallocating frequencies now under the control of the state and the private sector and issuing 3G licences, the NBTC will oversee the launch of community television services and regulate radio community stations. But they can expect to see some amateur investors ‘check out’. When the playing field is leveled some will not be able to compete if they don’t improve. Regulations to control cross-media ownership and prevent monopolies were not expected during the first years of the NBTC’s operations.
Globe Telecom, BayanTel now 100% interconnected (Philippines)
Globe Telecom, Inc. has announced that it is now 100% interconnected with Bayan Telecommunications, Inc. (Bayantel) in all areas both companies serve in the Philippines.
According to the company, the commercial activation of local interconnection between Globelines, the wireline service of Globe Telecom and Bayantel took effect last Dec. 10. This means that Globelines and Bayantel subscribers within the province of Northern Samar and those within Western Samar can call each other locally without having to pay long-distance rates.
The company added that Globe Telecom and Bayantel have common operation areas in the National Capital Region and the provinces of Iloilo, Cebu, Eastern Samar, Negros Occidental, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Norte, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon.
Globe Telecom stated that it had to do more interconnection agreements with rival phone firms as part of efforts to expand its network and reach more subscribers.
The National Telecommunications Commission mandates compulsory interconnection of authorized public telecommunications carriers under Republic Act 7925.
This aims to create a universally accessible and fully integrated nationwide telecommunications network to encourage more infrastructure investments from the private sector that would benefit the consumers.
TOT to hold e-auction for 3G network contracts in Jan (Thailand)
Thailand’s TOT PCL is planning to hold an electronic auction for US$580.8 million worth of equipment and installation contracts for its 3G mobile phone network on Jan. 28.
According to Senior Executive Vice President Kamthon Waithayakul, TOT aims to sign contracts with the winners around Feb. 15-18. The sale of bidding applications, which has been postponed from end-November due to delays in preparing the terms of references, is expected to take place within this week.
TOT’s total investment budget of US$0.67 million for the 3G network project was approved by the country’s cabinet in September after a court issued an injunction to freeze a planned auction of licenses by industry regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, to private operators for the 2.1 gigahertz spectrum.
TOT Plc delays 3G auction to January (Thailand)
Thailand’s state-owned TOT Plc is planning to hold a $659 million 3G wireless-spectrum auction in January, delayed from December due to a longer-than-expected documentation process.
According to President Varut Suvakorn, TOT, which planned to ink a contract with the winner of the electronic auction by February 2011, expected to launch 3G services on an existing 1,900 MHz frequency in some areas in April 2011 as planned. The terms of reference are under examination by the Office of the Attorney General and they expect bidding documents to be ready on Dec. 13. He added that TOT would seek loans from domestic banks to finance the 3G project.
Among the major banks are top lender Bangkok Bank Pcl, Krung Thai Bank Pcl KTB.BK and Kasikornbank Pcl KBAN.BK.
As part of a plan to accelerate the country’s long-delayed entry into the 3G era, TOT aims to install 5,000 base stations and expand nationwide 3G services by 2012.
TOT received the 1,900 MHz spectrum, part of the 2.1 gigahertz spectrum for 3G technology, several years ago but only launched 3G services on the frequency with limited coverage late last year. TOT’s 3G plan comes two months after Thailand’s Central Administrative Court issued an injunction against a planned 3G license auction scheduled on Sept. 20 for private operators.
TOT and state-owned operator CAT Telecom Pcl filed petitions with the court to challenge the authority of the National Telecommunications Commission to allocate a new 2.1 GHz spectrum that would have been used for 3G services. TOT and CAT would have lost significant concession revenues if the private companies had acquired 3G licenses.
Thai court injunction halts 3G license auction
A Thai court has ordered the telecoms regulator to halt a 3G mobile license auction, supporting an order from a lower court that had frozen the process after a request from a state telecoms company.
CAT some time back had submitted appeals to the Central Administrative Court to block the process. As per the appeal, the company has said that its interests would be damaged and the National Telecommunications Commission does not have the authority to offer the licenses.
Subsidiaries of the top three Thai telecom operators were all due to take part in the bidding, which was supposed to have started on Monday.
According to Total Access Chief Executive Officer Tore Johnsen, the company will respect the court’s decision, but regret that Thailand is yet to have a 3G system. The company believes Thailand still needs 3G and wireless broadband for the country’s economic development.
Five Thai operators to implement MNP before 3G auction
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Five mobile operators of Thailand might be banned by the Thai communications regulator from applying for 3G spectrum licenses if they fail to implement mobile number portability (MNP) in time.
Revision of 2.1 GHz licensing conditions is also considered by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to allow the regulator to ban the operators from bidding in the auction.
The five operators include Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC), TrueMove, TOT and CAT Telecom and they have been asked to implement MNP services before August.
The operators on the other hand have agreed to implement the system before August but they have seeked three more months as the system will need testing before being launched commercially.
NTC announces quick 3G frequency auction mandatory
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The final 3G frequency spectrum auction in Philippines has been suggested by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to take place immediately before the technology is overtaken by a much faster one.
According to the 152-page appeal filed by the watchdog , there is an exigent need for it to implement its statutory mandate before the 3G technology is overtaken by better, faster standards and if it is not awarded immediately to a service provider who will use it efficiently and effectively then this renders the same obsolete.
As an example, Filipino telco Liberty Telecoms has been cited which is already rolling out 4G services through its Wi-tribe brand. With a subscriber base of 715,000 as at December 21, 2009, Globe Telecom has been the number one WiMAX operator in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Liberty Telecoms has announced that 1, 000 subscribers has been added to its pre-commercial WiMAX trials at the end of March 2010.
Globe Telecom plans to roll out 2,000 Wimax, 3G base stations
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Installation of 2,000 new base stations has been planned by Philippine communications provider Globe Telecom this year. The new base stations will be installed for 3G and WiMAX services on account of expected traffic rise by 35 to 40 percent per year by the operator.
3000 base station is currently owned by Globe Telecom and the company aims to bring this number to 5,000 this year. The figure has been filed by the operator with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). Need for additional 3G spectrum is also pointed by the operator and at present it has 10 MHz of 3G spectrums.
The regulator on the other hand is planning to auction the last 3G slot this year and it allowed the current 3G licensees to participate in the auction.
NTC allows Philippines’ 3G operators to bid for last license
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Three major 3G licensees- Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Digital Mobile Philippines- will be allowed to participate in the upcoming auction for the last 3G spectrum license by Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The three companies had asked the regulator to lift its ban preventing them from participating in the auction after which the NTC revised the rules for the auction allowing companies that are already authorized to operate a mobile network and companies with pending authorizations to participate.
AZ Communications Network, Multi-Media Telephony, Next Mobile, and Pacific Wireless are the companies with pending authorizations.
BellTel sale receives green signal by NTC (Philippines)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The proposal for transfer of ownership of Bell Telecommunications Philippines Inc (BellTel) has been approved by the Philippines’ telecoms regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The ownership would be transferred to Two Cassandra-CCI Conglomerates, a holding company that once owned a small stake in Liberty Telecoms Holdings, which was bought by San Miguel Corp (SMC) together with partner Qatar Telecoms.
The move will result into PHP3.6 billion (USD78 million) cash injection into BellTel. 40% stake in BellTel was acquired by Two Cassandra on December 18, 2009 and both the parties signed an agreement according to which Cassandra will buy the remaining six million shares or 60% of the issued and outstanding capital stock of BellTel after the NTC approves the change in ownership.
Two minority shareholders of BellTel, South China Resources Inc. and Liberty Flour Mills Inc also sold off their stakes to Two Cassandra.
