The more, the merrier apparently

A few days ago we told you about Avocado Telecoms, a possible third player in the long standing telco duopoly dominated by Smart and Globe. Apparently Avocado isn’t the only telecom whose franchise was approved by congress: four other local players are looking to make their mark in the local market.

Those players are Ama Telecommunications Incorporated Infinivan Incorporated, Metro Connections and Telecom Corporation and Megamanila Telecom Corporation.

Before we all start to celebrate the entry of five potential new players, keep in mind that franchise approval doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be challenging incumbents any time soon. It takes mucho capital to put up the infrastructure necessary, and even then that’s not a guarantee of success.

Even if these four new players manage to get the cash together, their access to the operating spectrum, the lifeblood of any telco, is limited. ICT advocacy group Democracy.net.ph has earlier stated that both PLDT and Globe already occupy nearly 80% of the available and allocatable spectrum in the country after the purchase of San Miguel Corporation’s telco assets. 

Earlier President Duterte has warned telcos that he is more than willing to let foreign telcos from China operate in the Philippines if both PLDT and Globe do not improve their service.

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