Page 104 - SAMENA Trends - January 2021

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) The Philippines’ third telco player DITO Telecommunity
said it would meet with telecom firms and the Department has announced that it is confident it will pass the
of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) government-mandated technical audit of its new
to ensure their plans for improvement this year would network, which is due to begin next week. The
Philippines be "completed" on time. The first bi-monthly meeting newcomer informed the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) that, having secured a six-month
will be in the first week of February, where telcos
are expected to brief the NTC on the status of their extension in July 2020 ‘in relation to the delay caused
network roll-outs and the problems they encountered, by the COVID-19 crisis’, its new network is now ready to
the NTC said in a statement. The NTC said it would be audited. DITO must now deliver on its commitment
"push for front-loaded implementation of telcos’ roll- to have covered 37% of the population with a service
out plans, particularly for the first 2 quarters of 2021." delivering a minimum average download speed of
The commission's monitoring comes after President 27Mbps. The test will be conducted by independent
Rodrigo Duterte last year threatened he would "close" auditor R G Manabat & Co with a certain number of
all telecommunication providers and "expropriate" if the start-up’s 1,600 or so cell sites tested. ‘For the
their services won't improve by the end of that year. past months, amid the difficulties posed by the current
The commission, citing data from the Ookla Speedtest global pandemic, DITO has made great strides in the
Global Index, said the country's mobile Internet rollout to ensure that the results of the audit will be
connection speed was at 22.50 megabits per second positive,’ the company’s chief administrative officer
(mbps) in December versus 18.49 mbps the previous Adel Tamano said, adding that the newcomer also
month. The improvement raised the country’s rank to intends to push through with its commercial launch in
29th from 34th among 50 Asian countries, and to 18th March 2021. DITO’s next technical audit is slated for
from 22nd out of 46 Asia Pacific countries, the NTC July this year, at which point it has pledged to have
said. Globe said it has finalized partnerships with 11 extended service coverage to 51% of the population
tower companies, while Smart said it has agreements (minimum speed of 55Mbps). Should DITO repeatedly
with 9 tower companies, it added. Globe and Smart breach its commitments, the government is able to
also increased capital expenditures to P90 billion and recall its radio frequencies and seize its PHP25.7 billion
P92 billion, respectively, in 2021 in anticipation of DITO (USD535 million) bond.
Telecommunity's launch in March, according to the (January 8, 2021) commsupdate.com
NTC. (January 25, 2021) news.abs-cbn.com

Spanish telecoms firm Grupo MASMOVIL has been totaled EUR18.117 million. The actual identities of the
identified as the buyer of three blocks of 1800MHz new bidders have not been disclosed in ANACOM’s
spectrum in the first stage of the auction being held documentation, although MASMOVIL-backed cableco/
by the National Communications Authority (Autoridade MVNO Nowo has previously stated its intention to take
Portugal Nacional de Comunicacoes, ANACOM). According part in the process. Bidding for sought-after spectrum
to Expansion, MASMOVIL took part in the auction in the 700MHz, 2100MHz, 2.6GHz and 3.6GHz bands
via its Portuguese cable/MVNO subsidiary Nowo. has yet to commence. Incumbent operators MEO, Nos
Going forward, MASMOVIL intends to roll out a 4G and Vodafone will go head-to-head for the 5G suitable
network covering Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. As frequencies. (January 12, 2021) commsupdate.com
per regulator data, the winning bidder paid EUR18.117
million (USD22.012 million) for each of the three blocks The National Communications Authority (Autoridade
on offer, for a total commitment of EUR54.351 million. Nacional de Comunicacoes, ANACOM) has confirmed
In related news, the second phase of the Portuguese that its multi-band spectrum auction – which
auction commenced yesterday (14 January). This commenced on 22 December before being paused on 23
phase includes spectrum in the 700MHz, 900MHz, December – resumed on 4 January. Bidding for sought-
2100MHz, 2.6GHz and 3.6GHz bands. Incumbent after spectrum in the 700MHz, 2100MHz, 2.6GHz and
operators MEO, Nos and Vodafone will all go head-to- 3.6GHz bands has yet to commence, however, with
head for the 5G suitable frequencies, with MASMOVIL the initial stages of the auction concentrating on
also expected to boost its spectrum holdings. the allocation of the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands,
(January 15, 2021) commsupdate.com which has been reserved for new market entrants.
At the end of day four 900MHz bids stood at EUR30
Portugal’s National Communications Authority million (USD36.8 million), while 1800MHz bids totaled
(ANACOM) has confirmed that its auction of 900MHz EUR14.84 million. The identities of the new bidders
and 1800MHz spectrum – which was reserved for new themselves have not been disclosed in ANACOM’s
market entrants – concluded on 11 January, after eight documentation, although MASMOVIL-backed cableco/
days of bidding. Final 900MHz bids stood at EUR30 MVNO Nowo has previously stated its intention to take
million (USD36.8 million), while final 1800MHz bids part in the process. (January 6, 2021) commsupdate.com
104 JANUARY 2021