Converge ICT officially joins third telco battle

Converge ICT Solutions has finally pushed its initial plan of participating in the government's third telco search. 

Converge ICT

Related: Mislatel consortium is the official new major telco player

The company's president Dennis Uy appeared at the National Telecommunications Commission's (NTC) office in Quezon City yesterday, October 31, to personally show Converge's desire to grab the new major telco player slot. 

The NTC said Converge was the unidentified firm last week that bought the P1-million selection documents needed to join the race. 

Converge President and CEO Dennis Uy at the NTC
Photo from Warren de Guzman

This was despite Uy's earlier pronouncement that the group would not be participating in the bid as it wanted to focus more on its business expansion. 

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Converge executive said the company would be partnering with a local firm and South Korea's telco giant KT Corp., promising to offer better and cheaper telecommunications services.

This third telco initiative is the fight for unhappy customers. This is the only chance we have, under this President. 

Uy was confident amid Converge's existing infrastructure for the fixed-broadband business, with its services competing against the telco duopoly of Globe and PLDT. 

Just in August, Converge announced it would be allotting USD 1.8 billion to boost its network for the next five years. It targets to cover over 13 million out of 22 million households in the country. 

It teamed up with foreign companies, Korea Telecoms, LSI-Fibernet Konstruk Corporation, and TE Connectivity Subcom, for this plan. 

Uy earlier vowed that with Converge's aggressive infrastructure rollout, Filipinos can expect the "best internet service" in the next year or two. 

Currently, the government's initiative has so far enticed 10 firms, including AMA Telecommunications; Udenna Corp.; Now Telecom Co., Inc.; a consortium led by TierOne Communications International, Inc. and Luis “Chavit” C. Singson’s LCS Group of Companies; Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T); and one unidentified company.

Exciting times ahead for third telco search! Are you excited to experience better telco services soon? Let us know in the comments!

Source: BusinessWorld, Inquirer, Twitter