A tenth company has purchased bid documents for the upcoming selection process to name the Philippines' third major telco.
AMA Telecommunications, a company owned by former congressman Felizardo Colambo, paid the 1 million peso ($19,000) fee for the bidding documents, ABS-CBN News reported.
AMA has a Congressional franchise to install, operate and maintain telecommunications systems nationwide.
This brings the number of companies to have purchased bid documents for the beauty-contest style selection process up to 10. Other interested parties include China Telecom, Norway's Telenor and the revived former telecoms operator PT&T.
Meanwhile regulator NTC has recently confirmed that local ICT player Converge ICT Solutions is one of the companies to have purchased bid documents, despite an earlier suggestion that Converge ICT may not take part in the process in favor of expanding its fiber internet business.
The regulator has previously indicated it hopes to be able to name the company that will be given a nationwide telecoms license to compete with incumbents Globe Telecom and PLDT by as early as this month.