We’ve heard a bit of updates about Mislatel or the third (3rd) telco player planning to enter the telecommunications industry by this year. Apart from the government’s plan to set up their own independent and government-owned telco, Mislatel is also one for the books in keeping a high-quality and affordable Internet connection.
As many of us are aware, Mislatel consortium is the plan which is going to be composed of China Telecommunications Corporation, Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, and Udenna Corporation. It’s actually a consortium that will be managed by three (3) well-known and operationally famous companies.
Read: Mislatel, Third Telco Player in the Country, Will Accept Subscribers Before 2020
These corporations already signed an agreement of purchase back in June of this year. They are of course, hoping to get approval from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and to acquire a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN).
Philippine Congress ok-ed the measure that would allow Mislatel to obtain control of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company—franchise holder. It’s one of the main requirements for them to be operationally available to be part of the players in the telco industry.
Atty. Adel Tamano, Mislatel Spokesperson, sent a text message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA), saying that when they acquire their CPCN from the NTC, they will be starting operations in July.
If we are able to get our CPCN by July, we will do our network rollout.”
Capital Stock would be at P10 billion
According to Tamano, when they get the nod to the measure, Mislatel will be able to see an increase in the capital stock to P10 billion—which will be a requirement based on the guidelines of the NTC for the drafting of the new major telecommunications provider.
Read: New Phone Unlocking Policy by the NTC
Terms of reference of the NTC says that any third player—in this case Mislatel—should comply with the requirement of a P10 billion capitalization together with the passing of a performance bond that amounts to P25 million. These are what any aspiring telco player needs to be given and granted the CPCN.
Once we get the SEC’s (Security Exchange Commission) approval on the increase in capital stock, then we would have complied with the terms of reference.”
When NTC grants Mislatel their awaited CPCN and frequencies, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will then observe the company’s compliance and its commitment. One of which is its vow to provide average Internet connection speeds at 27 megabytes per second (Mbps).
This speed, as per their mission, is to cover at least 37.03 percent of the country’s population. An investment of at least P150 billion in expenditure in operations and capital during its first year of operations should accommodate their promise. In their five-year commitment period, however, Mislatel Consortium will be investing P257 billion—and promised to cover 80 percent of the country in the span of five (5) years.
Read: PH Internet Speeds Not Improving at All Says Experts
Eliseo Rio Jr. Acting Secretary of the DICT said that the government will be allowing awarding of Mislatel with frequency bands of 700 megaHertz (MHz), 2100 MHz, 2000 MHz, 2.5 gigaHertz (GHz), 3.3 GHz, and 3.5 GHz.
Mislatel to be operational soon
A lot of people are excited to see what’s in store for Mislatel. As their promise to provide affordable but high-quality and high-speed Internet connections, a lot of consumers and businesses are looking to switch if deemed that the consortium would really abide to their promise.
Since the NTC awarded Mislatel the third (3rd) telco slot in the country back in November of last year, Mislatel has been working their way in hastening the process of their CPCN approval—of course, people in all over the archipelago hopes to see the betterment in technology and communications.
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What do you think of the third (3rd) telco player in the Philippines? Are you also hoping that this will finally solve the dilemmas that our country is experiencing in terms of slow Internet connectivity despite high and lucrative rates?
When you get to see what Mislatel has to offer, would you be doing the switch as well? Let us know your thoughts and opinions about whatever is about to be set in the telco world; let’s wait for the update from Mislatel and the DICT about the start of operations of Mislatel!