In a letter to NTC commissioner Ronald Solis, NMI consultant on regulatory affairs Silvestre Garfin said the company is manifesting its intention to apply for authority to operate 3G networks.
Also, NMI emphasized that as an existing mobile operator in the 800 megahertz (MHz) frequency band, it is invoking the "prior operator rule" which protects the heavy investments of public utilities from unwarranted, unhealthy, and destructive competition. This rule, which gives priority to existing operators before 3G licenses can be offered to other parties, is also being invoked by other mobile phone operators such as Globe Telecom.
The NTC is currently finalizing a set of rules that will govern the allocation and assignment of 3G frequency bands.
NMI said it fully supports the NTC’s initiatives in promoting 3G mobile services as a viable and efficient technology for mobile applications, as the same would redound to the benefit of the subscribing public. "NMI reiterates its support for NTC’s proactive approach in paving the way and setting the fundamentals for 3G mobile communications deployment in the Philippines, with PTEs (public telecommunication entities) currently operating 2G and 2.5G mobile networks being given priority rights for assignment of 3G frequency bands," it noted.
Garfin pointed out that NMI is qualified to become a 3G network operator, being a PTE holding a congressional telecommunications franchise under Republic Act 7301 and a certified operator of state-of-the-art trunked radio dispatch communication system through the Motorola Integrated Radio System (MIRS), now Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) technology.
In the operation of its current mobile communications system utilizing iDEN technology, along with its authorized voice and data services equivalent to 2.5G (general packet radio service), NMI said it uses certain portions of the 800 MHz frequency band assigned to it by the NTC.
These portions assigned to NMI, Garfin noted, are not included in the 825-845 MHz and 870-890 MHz bands which have been proposed for reallocation for the use of the 3G mobile telecommunications services. "Thus, NMI is not the occupant and actual user of frequencies nearest to those to be reallocated for the use of 3G telecommunications networks," he said.
He added that GSM (global system for mobile communications), which operates in the 800 MHz bands, is compatible with NMI’s iDEN technology, pointing out that both are generically cellular technologies that utilize a great number of base stations and reuse the same frequencies over and over to achieve sufficient traffic capacity.