Philippines telecom regulator NTC will shortly auction a 3G license surrendered by incumbent operator PLDT.
PLDT surrendered the 3G license owned and other assets of subsidiary Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprises (CURE), as a condition of the approval of last year's acquisition of rival Digitel.
Up for grabs are the remaining assets of CURE including its congressional franchise, which is valid until April 2026, and its 10 MHz 3G license.
PLDT will be barred from bidding, but it's main competitor, Globe Telecom, has already expressed interest to participate in the bid.
“We’ve been vocal about our interest to bid for CURE’s 3G spectrum as part of our drive to provide our subscribers with a better network, especially with the growth of smartphones and the explosion of mobile data use,” said Froilan M. Castelo, Head of corporate and legal services of Globe.
Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu affirmed that the availability of more 3G frequency is an opportunity for the company, especially in light of the ongoing network modernization and transformation initiatives.
"This won't be easy given the players involved but we'll go for it," he said.
Globe's subscriber base is now over 31 million. PLDT's mobile subscribers, on the other hand, are now over 62 million after it acquired Digitel's 15 million wireless subscribers through the merger.