The Philippine telecoms regulator is unlikely to be able to reassign the 700MHz spectrum currently held by San Miguel Corp (SMC) after the country’s dominant mobile operators called on it to reallocate the valuable spectrum band to help them provide faster mobile broadband services.

Edgardo Cabarios, head of the National Telecommunications Commission’s regulatory division, said it would be “difficult” to recall and reassign the frequency. “How can you reassign when it has presently been assigned?” the Inquirer quoted him as asking.

In early November PLDT and Globe Telecom – which together account for 99 per cent of the country’s mobile connections — called on the regulator to auction off part of the valuable 700MHz spectrum held by SMC’s units. Both operators emphasised that since the spectrum is “highly underutilised”, it should be reallocated to help them deliver faster speeds in a more cost-efficient way.

Telstra ambitions
Telstra announced in late August that financing was being sought for a wireless joint venture in the Philippines with SMC. Telstra reportedly will take a 40 per cent stake in the venture, which will invest $1.5 billion to $2 billion over the first three to four years.

Cabarios noted that there needs to be a good reason to recall the spectrum, such as the non-use of the frequency or the required fees weren’t paid to the government, the Inquirer reported. He said SMC, through its units, has been paying the fees.

SMC has acquired permits to purchase equipment and is pursuing the “ongoing buildup of its network”, he told the Inquirer.

SMC owns 90MHz out of 100MHz in the highly efficient 700MHz band, with the company’s Wi-Tribe holding 80MHz and High Frequency Telecommunications allocated 10MHz. New Century Telecommunications holds the remaining 10MHz.