10 firms interested in being third telco player in the Philippines – DICT
At least 10 local and foreign telecommunications companies have expressed interest in becoming the third telco player in the country. According to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), among the hopefuls are one Chinese, two South Korean, one Vietnamese and one Norwegian company. DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr identified the bidders as China Telecom, Korea Telecommunications, LG U+, Viettel, and Telenor. Local players include T&T, Converge, Now, Easy Call, and Trans-Pacific Broadband. Rio has expressed confidence that all these telco players will be strong enough to compete with Globe and PLDT, the operator of Smart. President Rodrigo Duterte has called for the entry of a third telco player after citing ongoing consumer complaints about the services provided by existing firms.
