Philippines-based Globe Telecom will push for rival PLDT to give up some of its spectrum, should the latter’s acquisition of third-largest player Digitel go through.
According to the Inquirer, Globe’s external legal counsel Rodolfo Salalima had said at a recent press conference that Globe needed to level the playing field and protect consumers’ interests, as the PLDT-Digitel deal could result in a monopoly.
Globe currently holds 10 Mhz out of 55 Mhz of active spectrum in the Philippines, with the remaining 45 Mhz belonging to PLDT and DigiTel. Salalima said the proportion of spectrum would be unequally distributed post-merger. He added PLDT and Digitel’s 45 Mhz of spectrum was capable of serving 120 million subscribers, although market size was just 90 million.
PLDT and Digitel would only need 22 Mhz combined, Salalima said, adding Globe would appeal to the country’s regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, for the extra 23 Mhz to be surrendered.
Globe’s proposal will be discussed in a May 23 hearing. The NTC’s decision could also affect the fortunes of upcoming operator Liberty Telecom, a JV between the San Miguel conglomerate and Qatar’s QTel group.
San Miguel chairman Ramon S. Ang has expressedthe company’s interest in bidding for spectrum in order to augment its service offerings. Currently, just one lot of 3G spectrum has remained unassigned.