Group flags risks of lifting telco entry barriers

MANILA, Philippines — The umbrella group of telco players in the Philippines has raised constitutional, competition and technical concerns on a measure that would open up the connectivity industry, asking the Senate to think twice about its legislation.

The Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators (PCTO) yesterday flagged the risks that come with approving Senate Bill (SB) 2699, authored by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

The senator claims that the bill would simplify the process for telcos in applying for licenses, encouraging competition to the benefit of consumers.

The PCTO said SB 2699 or the Konektadong Pinoy Act would violate the constitutional policy to protect natural resources in its provision to remove the need for a legislative franchise to obtain a radio frequency spectrum.

Congress is playing a vital role in gatekeeping the spectrum by requiring telcos to apply for a legislative franchise prior to getting an allocation. The removal of that procedure might lead to issues on consumer welfare and national security, the group claims.

In particular, abolishing the legislative franchise may open the gates for ill-intent telcos to come in, exposing the Philippines to cybersecurity and national interest problems.

They have also noted that the bill proposes to reduce the regulatory role of the National Telecommunications Commission in granting entry to the sector for foreign players.

The PCTO believes that spectrum should be “treated like water” – a natural monopoly that has to be regulated to protect consumers. It also wants the spectrum to be treated as a resource that should be given out only to trustworthy entities.

The group made the example of the country’s experience in online gaming, where the loosening of entry rules resulted in the deluge of questionable entities from China, forcing President Marcos to ban them all.

The group also finds it unfair that SB 2699 will only eliminate the bureaucratic process for data transmission industry participants (DTIP) with public telecommunications entities excluded.

The group wonders why DTIPs tasked to build backbone networks would be exempted from the same vetting that telcos offering basic telephone