By Aerol John Pateña (PNA)
MANILA — Mislatel Consortium, the provisional awardee of the country’s third telco slot, has an existing legislative franchise, according to a company under its umbrella.
“We wish to clarify that prior to the selection process for the third telco, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) published a list of telecommunications entities with existing legislative franchises. Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. (Mislatel) was included in the list,” Chelsea Logistics said in a regulatory disclosure on Friday.
The consortium is a joint initiative between Davao City-based Udenna Corporation with its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation and state-owned China Telecom.
Chelsea Logistics said its local partner, Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company is the holder of the franchise.
Mislatel has a nationwide franchise to construct, operate and maintain telecommunication facilities until 2023 based on the NTC’s list, it was stated.
Chelsea Logistics made this statement after Infrawatch PH convenor Terry Ridon claimed in a newspaper report that Mislatel’s franchise has been revoked after it has failed to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The consortium won the selection process after undergoing a series of evaluations on their submitted documents, which demonstrated their technical and financial capability to deliver telco services in the country in competition with existing players PLDT and Globe Telecom.
Mislatel was awarded as the provisional new major player after it has scored 456.80 points out of 500 based on its highest committed level of service based on national coverage, Internet speed, and capital and operational expenditures over a five-year period.
Mislatel has committed to provide internet speeds of 27Mbps on the first year, which would rise to 55Mbps on the second year until the fifth year of its operations, eventually covering 84 percent of the population.
The government will be able to forfeit the PHP 14 billion performance bond of Mislatel if it failed to deliver its commitments.
Mislatel still needs to undergo a document verification phase within three calendar days before it is confirmed as the country’s third telco player.
