NOW Telecom to appeal NTC’s denial of license to operate

LISTED NOW CORP. said its subsidiary NOW Telecom Co., Inc. will appeal the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) denial of its bid to extend its provisional authority to operate a nationwide mobile telecommunications system.

“NOW Telecom vehemently disagrees with the NTC order and will file a motion for reconsideration…” NOW Corp. said in a statement to the local bourse on Thursday.

Last week, the NTC announced that it had denied NOW Telecom’s bid to extend its authority to operate nationwide mobile telecommunications systems.

The NTC ruled in a unanimous decision that NOW Telecom had failed to comply with critical regulatory and operational requirements, including the rollout of infrastructure, underutilization of spectrum, and over P3.57 billion in unpaid regulatory fees.

“With the NTC order, NOW Telecom’s provisional authority (PA) to install, operate, and maintain a nationwide mobile telecommunications system, offer services, and charge rates therefore, with the clarification that such authority is not specific to 3G, is deemed inoperative, and NOW Telecom’s assigned frequency, 20 MHz contiguous bandwidth 3520-3540 MHz, is recalled,” NOW Corp. said.

The NTC upheld its rulings in September and December 2020, which had already attained finality.

“The NTC likewise noted that the high tribunal also affirmed NOW Telecom’s disqualification from the 3G frequency allocation,” the NTC said in a statement.

The NTC said that radio frequency spectrum is a scarce public resource and must be allocated to providers that use it efficiently. — Ashley Erika O. Jose