Senate allows transfer of Mislatel's ownership to consortium

We may soon have a challenger to Globe Telecom and PLDT as the Senate today gave the green light to transfer the ownership of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company Inc. (Mislatel) to the winning bidder of the third telco search.

Mislatel

Senate approves change in ownership of franchise holder Mislatel 

This was made possible through a House resolution, which the Senate adopted, seeking to transfer Mislatel’s ownership to provisional third telco player Mislatel consortium, which is backed by China Telecommunications and Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy.

The Mindanao-based firm was presented as the consortium’s franchise holder in the bidding process held last November 2018.

Three legislators voted against the resolution, namely Senators Franklin Drilon, Panfilo Lacson and Risa Hontiveros.

Drilon, who has long questioned Mislatel’s validity, insisted its franchise must be revoked due to failure to meet conditions included in the franchise.

It's for national interest that I'm also doing this. Look, there are certain technicalities, perhaps that point to them not being kosher. There's certain requirements that they didn't fulfill, but this is what they're going to present in exchange, Poe said.

Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate public services committee, said this could be resolved by treating the issue as a “regular” franchise.

Source: ABS-CBN