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DICT: The choice of the 3rd telecommunications operator by auction will benefit the duopoly, not consumers
MANILA (Philippines) – Eliseo Rio Jr., State Secretary in the Information and Communication Department, reiterated on Tuesday his disapproval of the project to select the country's third-largest telecom player by auction, which he said would only put consumers at risk. 19659004] To break a long-standing duopoly and boost service, President Rodrigo Duterte invited foreign companies, backed by a consortium of Filipino companies, to play a role in the country's wireless communications market. This target has been affected by delays as the ITCB and the Ministry of Finance have reached a stalemate on which the selection method should be used.
DICT wants the company with the highest level of service to be chosen as the third telecommunications operator. On the other hand, the DOF prefers to hold an auction for frequencies, with a floor price of more than 6 billion pesos out of the 36.58 billion pesos previously announced.
In a post on social media, Rio said that method of selection, the successful bidder should recover the amount paid to the government by passing it on to Filipino consumers.
He pointed out that an auction would be anticompetitive because the licensees were not obliged to buy their frequencies, adding that the proposal would force the new player to shell out a considerable amount that would Has nothing to do with improving infrastructure and services.
"Indeed, Filipinos will have nothing to gain from the auction of frequencies because they will pay for it in the long run … In fact, it will make telecommunications services more expensive than when the frequencies were awarded for free, "wrote Rio
" This will only make the telco uncompetitive to duopoly that has never paid the Filipino people for their frequencies.So, an auction will not benefit to the Filipino people, it will only benefit the duopoly, "he added.
During a stakeholder consultation last June, the majority of the 15 interested public operators stated that the new supplier should be chosen instead of the financial financial inflection, a major victory for the DICT
] READ: Stakeholders want the third companies to be picked according to their commitments and not at auction
DICT and the DOF sit on the committee
Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez III reportedly that the rejection by stakeholders of his agency's preferred method for selecting the new entrant was not a surprise.
"Why should someone refuse something for free?" Dominguez said.
DICT set a target in September or early October to name a third player.
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