Now Telecom loses CA case vs NTC fees for new players

Now Telecom, which sought to become the Philippines’ third major telecommunications company, lost its case in the Court of Appeals (CA) to scrap certain fees imposed on new players by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

In its 38-page decision, the CA 1st Division declared as valid NTC Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 09-09-2018 that set guidelines for the selection of new major players (NMPs) in the telecommunications market.

The circular requires applicants to pay participation and performance securities. The participation security amounts to P700 million, while the performance security ranges from P14 billion to P24 billion.

Now Telecom had argued that these fees, along with a P10-million non-refundable appeal fee, were “onerous, confiscatory, and potentially extortionary.”

The CA 1st Division upheld the 2018 decision of Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 42 that junked Now Telecom’s bid to scrap the implementation of the NTC circular.

Now Telecom was among the companies which joined the bidding to become the Philippines’ third telco. Mislatel, later renamed Dito Telecommunity, won that bid.

The CA ruled that the NTC “had the authority” to issue the circular “and impose certain reservations or qualifications with respect to the entry of participants” to become an NMP, as well as grant certificates to qualified NMPs.

The court added that the circular, including the questioned fees, “is not confiscatory and anticompetitive in nature.”

However excessive Now Telecom views it, the CA said, the imposition of these fees “was proper as it was issued precisely to ensure that only qualified and capable bidders could participate in the selection of the NMP.”

Associate Justice Alfredo Ampuan penned the CA decision, with Presiding Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Associate Justice Pedro Corales concurring. – Rappler.com