INAMIN kahapon ni Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. na hindi maaaring pagbawalan ng gobyerno ang telcos na magtayo ng sarili nilang towers.
Ayon kay Rio, kapag ipinilit nila ang towercos duopoly ay maaari silang kasuhan sa korte.
“Yes, it is in their franchise and they cannot be prevented to put up their own infra including towers. We can’t come out with a Department policy or order that we cannot implement because we can be sued in court. We will have a dialogue with the telcos on how to resolve this,” wika ni Rio.
Nauna nang sinabi ni Rio na target nilang tapusin ang common tower sharing policy na isinusulong ni Presidential Adviser for ICT Ramon Jacinto sa Nobyembre.
Nauna rito ay tinawag ng Globe Telecom at Smart Communications, Inc na ‘baseless at illegal’ ang panukala ni Jacinto na limitahan sa dalawa ang bilang ng independent at private companies na papayagang magtayo ng cell site towers sa bansa.
Sa hiwalay subalit magkaparehong posisyon laban sa towercos duopoly, iginiit ng Globe Telecom at Smart Communications, Inc. na labag sa kanilang congressional franchise ang plano ni Jacinto.
Sa kanilang position paper hinggil sa DICT at NTC Draft Joint Memorandum Circular (“MC”) on policy, rules and regulations on common and shared infrastructure in the public telecommunications market, sinabi ng dalawang telcos na hindi sila maaaring pagbawalang magtayo ng kanilang telecommunications towers.
Binigyang-diin ng Globe at Smart na nilalabag ng draft MC ang kanilang prangkisa na nagkakaloob sa kanila ng karapatan na magtayo ng sarili nilang telecommunications towers.
“Basic is the principle that a mere executive issuance, like a memorandum circular, cannot amend a legislative enactment, e.g. R.A. No. 10926; the former cannot purport to do more than implement the later. Memorandum circulars must always be in harmony with the law. And in case of conflict between an executive issuance and a law, the latter must prevail,” pahayag ng dalawang telcos.
Iprinisinta ng DICT noong nakaraang buwan ang draft MC na inihanda ni Jacinto, na naglalayong limitahan ang pagtatayo ng telcos towers sa dalawang independent at private tower companies lamang.
Sinabi ng Smart na dapat payagan ng efficient tower markets ang iba’t ibang ownership models, kabilang ang pag-aari ng telecommunications companies.
Tinukoy ang mga kaso sa United States, Nigeria, Ghana, India, Indonesia at Germany kung saan ang telcos ay pinapayagang magtayo ng kanilang sariling towers, sinabi ng Smart na ang layunin ng gobyerno na isulong ang infrastructure sharing policy ay maaari pa ring maisakatuparan kahit hindi pagbawalan ang telcos sa pagtatayo ng sarili nilang towers alinsunod sa kanilang prangkisa.
Idinagdag pa ng Globe at Smart na ang independent towercos ay hindi maaaring limitahan sa dalawa dahil anti-competitive ito at hindi naging praktis ng efficient tower markets, at lalabag sa R.A. No. 10667 at R.A. No. 7925.
“Under R.A. No. 10667 or the PhilippineCompetition Act, the State recognizes that the provision of equal opportunities to all promotes entrepreneurial spirit, encourages private investments, facilitates technology development and transfer and enhances resource productivity. Unencumbered market competition also serves the interest of consumers by allowing them to exercise their right of choice over goods and services offered in the market.
“But limiting the number of TowerCos to two (2) unfairly excludes other companies from playing. This ultimately leads to a duopoly resulting in efficiencies. While R.A. 10667 seeks to create a competitive market, the proposed MC assists the towercos in unfairly obtaining market power.”
Comments are closed.