Mislatel Consortium’s acquisition of the franchise holder Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company has been approved by the congress of the Philippines.
The green light comes as Mislatel anticipates the issue of its operating licence, which should be issued with the next few weeks. Speaking to BusinessWorld, Mislatel’s Adel Tamano stated that the congressional approval meant that the group could expect to be issued its certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) by July.
Once the National Telecommunications Commission has granted the certificate, it will then allocate Mislatel a spectrum holding drawn from four bands. Following this, the group will be able to launch as the third major player in the Philippines.
Mislatel has pledged a PHP25.7 billion ($492 million) performance bond, meaning it will lose this money if it does not fulfil its deployment pledges. The group aims to begin its commercial offering in late 2020, providing coverage to 37% of the population after a year, and increasing this figure to 84% after five years.
Having been chosen as the Philippines’ third player in November last year, Mislatel will take on the incumbents Globe Telecom and Smart, which between them command 99.8% of the market. The consortium is made up of Chelsea Holdings, China Telecom and Udenna Corp.
