An unlikely source for a third telco
Yet another foreign player wants to come into the Philippines and break the telco duopoly of PLDT and Globe: Vietnamese telecommunication company Viettel has expressed interest in entering the Philippine market according to an email sent by the company to Reuters.
“Viettel is interested in the third license on telecommunications in this market. Viettel will thoroughly consider participating in case the conditions of the bidding documents are in line with the strategy of Viettel,” the statement read.
The company joins the ranks of other would-be third telco players vying for entry into the Philippine market, which includes China Telecom, an unnamed Indian firm and ZTE.
One of the biggest roadblocks in creating a third player is still the foreign ownership cap, which puts a 40% limit on foreign ownership on utilities.
Eliseo Rio, the acting ICT head, told Reuters in a recent interview that moves were underway to change that, so foreigners can raise their stakes later on.
