SC asked to affirm BayanTel’s PA

The government, through the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), has asked the Supreme Court to affirm the provisional authority it earlier granted to Bayan Telecommunications, Inc. (BayanTel) to operate and provide a nationwide cellular phone service.

In a 23-page petition for review filed with the High Tribunal, the NTC also asked the reversal of an earlier Court of Appeals decision annulling BayanTel’s cellular license.

In May of last year, the NTC authorized Benpres Holdings affiliate BayanTel to proceed with its proposed cellular service primarily on the ground that BayanTel had the legal, financial and technical capability to undertake the project.

In granting BayanTel a cellular license, NTC then pointed out that with the functional mergers or business consolidations of both Globe Telecom and Islacom, on the one hand, and Smart and Piltel on the other hand, there were effectively only three cellular operators left in the country, the third being Extelcom.

Extelcom consequently questioned BayanTel’s license with the Court of Appeals, which subsequently reversed the NTC’s decision. The Court of Appeals held that Extelcom’s right to due process was violated because of the grant of the cellular license to BayanTel.

This prompted the government to elevate the Court of Appeal’s ruling to the Supreme Court.

The Solicitor General, which acted as NTC’s counsel, pointed out that the reasons cited by the Court of Appeals in setting aside the NTC’s grant of a provisional authority in favor of BayanTel, "border on too much technicalities."

"Administrative tribunals should be unrestricted by technical or formal rules of procedure which governs trials before courts," the Solicitor General added.

Also, the Solicitor General stressed that the issuance of the assailed license to BayanTel nevertheless substantially complied with NTC’s rules of practice and procedure.

Industry observers say that NTC’s petition effectively supports a similar petition separately filed by BayanTel with the Supreme Court, and that this move was consistent with government’s existing policy of fostering competition and a level playing field for new telecoms players.