Franchise of 3rd Telco Mislatel Faced Questions During House Deliberations
3RD TELCO – The Philippines’ 3rd telco Mislatel faced questions over its franchise during the House deliberations.
Previously, a bidding was held for the 3rd telecommunication services provider in the Philippines. One of those that joined was Chavit Singson‘s company.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has already confirmed the new telco in the Philippines. Amid the country being dominated by PLDT and Globe, the Mislatel consortium is set to join as the 3rd telco provider in PH.
Recently, a House deliberation on the transfer and sale of Mislatel was held. However, the franchise of the 3rd telco was questioned which led to the suspension of the transfer and sale of the Mislatel’s controlling interest.
Based on a recent report on Rappler, during the House deliberation, 1st District Representative Prospero Pichay stressed on looking into the legal issues involving the Mislatel.
The Mislatel is involved in an issue with Sear Telecom, the company owned by businessman Chavit Singson. The latter insisted that the former cannot be part of the consortium as it has a contract with the DigiPhil.
Nicanor Escalante, the chief executive officer of Mislatel, denied that Sear Telecom has filed a legal complaint against their company.
Based on the report, two House representatives, Lito Atienza and Alfredo Garbin Jr., emphasized that the corporate issues are not their concern.
According to the latter, they should only keep an eye on the compliance of the transfer of the controlling interest with the 60-40 ownership rule of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
Another issue was raised during the House deliberation. Based on the report, SAGIP Rep. Rodante Marcoleta questioned the franchise of the 3rd telco Mislatel. He asked why it was not able to start the operation a year after it gained a franchise in 1998.
On the part of the Mislatel executive officer, Escalante reportedly expressed that the security threats in Maguindanao were the reason why they only started operating in 2015.
“Based on your own admission, you commenced ops in 2015… Then your franchise is revoked based on the law,” the representative said.
Based on the report, the House deliberation over the 3rd telco Mislatel consortium was suspended due to the division among the committee members. It was set to continue on December 11, 2018.
Based on a report on PhilStar, the House committee has already approved the transfer of ownership of Mislatel to the members of the consortium.
35% of the 3rd telco Mislatel consortium is set to be owned by Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corporation and 25% to belong to Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp.
China Telecom is set to hold 40% of the consortium. The franchise holder is the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company Inc.