Philippines Regulator to Auction Off Surrendered 3G Spectrum

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) is the leading telecommunications provider in the Philippines. It was founded on November 28, 1928. It operates in three principal business groups – fixed line, wireless, and information and communication technology

Recently PLDT has handed back the 3G license held by its subsidiary company, Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprises (CURE). Surrendering the license was a condition of its takeover of the company last October. All 1.1 million CURE customers have now been transferred to PLDT’s other mobile network, Smart Communications.

The regulator is now preparing to sell the license and spectrum again, and under current legislation, has until next January to auction off the spectrum to other bidders. PLDT has already substantial ratio spectrum holdings therefore it is barred from bidding.

Before the merger, PLDT held 25Mhz of spectrum, through two subsidiaries and gained a further 10Mhz following the acquisition. Following the handover, PLDT will end up with 15Mhz in the 1920-1935 Mhz/2110-2125Mhz ranges and a further 10Mhz in the 1925Mhz-1945Mhz and the 2125 Mhz-2135Mhz ranges.