THE CHAIRMAN of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology is concerned if the third telco player will be able to perform its job of competing against the leading giant network firms in the country.
Tarlac 2nd District Rep. Victor Yap lauded the statement of Globe Telecom Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernes Cu about the company being ready for the entry of the China-backed DITO Telecommunity Corp.
For this reason, the House panel chair is observing if the consortium owned by businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecommunications Corp. would be able to sustain the initiatives of business tycoon John Gokongwei Jr of Digitel Telecommunications Inc. of providing stiff competition, particularly with Sun Cellular’s offer of lower service rates.
“Will Dennis Uy ignite price war like Gokongwei? Ernest Cu says Globe is ready for ‘aggression’ from DITO. We’ll see how they play the game,” said Yap in a statement.
“(But) If there’s no true price war that happens, then, it’s what I feared a result of no real competition even with a third player,” added the lawmaker from Tarlac province.
Yap stressed DITO should be able to meet people’s expectations of having mobile communication and internet service provider, which aside from delivering better service, should also offer affordable rates. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense for the government to allow a third telco player.
As to the criticism about the slow network rollout of the Filipino-Chinese telcom partnership, Yap reminded the firm to be more aggressive and that there would be no delay in the start of its operations.
“They should be aggressive given the demand for good services. We hope that it is not the usual permits and permissions making delays,” said the congressman.
