3G licenses open even to delinquent operators — NTC

Mobile phone operators which have not completely fulfilled their obligations to roll out 400,000 landlines are still allowed to apply for 3G licenses and frequencies, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) pointed out.

In a memorandum explaining the rationale on the allocation and assignment of 3G (third generation) frequency bands, the NTC likewise brushed aside suggestions by mobile phone service providers that the obligations to be imposed on new players ought to carry the same cost as those mandated on existing operators.

The STAR reported yesterday that the NTC has finally issued the controversial 3G guidelines that would set the stage for the introduction of a mobile phone technology superior to that currently in use in the country (GSM or 2G, GPRS or 2.5G, and EDGE or 2.75G) but whose viability has not yet been proven in any country.

One cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) estimates additional investments in 3G to amount to $1.2 billion.

Executive Order 109 and RA 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Act mandated the rollout by CMTS operators of 400,000 landlines in exchange for their cellular license. Under the recently issued NTC 3G circular, new players who would qualify for 3G licenses will be allowed alternative compliance to the legal obligation by putting up public calling offices for instance instead of fixed lines.

The commission noted that another circular already governs the obligatory provisioning of local exchange carrier (LEC) services by, among others, CMTS operators. Under the circular, violators are subject to penalties, as well as the possibility of their authorizations being cancelled.

The NTC added that disqualifying erring CMTS operators from acquiring 3G licenses on account of their failure to fully comply with their obligation of rolling out LEC lines would amount to an additional penalty and a violation of due process as the penalty has not been subjected to the requisite administrative process.

According to the NTC, the obligation imposed on the prospective awardee of a 3G license need not be as onerous or costly as it seems as they are allowed "to cover unserved municipalities and barangays with public calling offices and telecenters within a time period and equivalent number of lines to be determined by the NTC."

The NTC added that since it is cognizant of the low demand for LEC lines and of the financial burden entailed in their roll out, said obligation may not be as financially taxing as before as public call centers may now be established in lieu of individual telephone landlines in order to sufficiently comply with the provisions of EO 109 and RA 7925. "There is, therefore, no basis for the insinuation that there is no uniformity on vying CMTS entities," it said.