President Duterte has signed three measures into law either granting or renewing the franchise awarded to three telecommunication companies.
The President, on April 29, signed Republic Act (RA) 11759 that grants a 25-year franchise to Derecho Telecommunications which allows its successors or assignees to construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain, for commercial purposes and in the public interest, wired and wireless telecommunications systems, in the Philippines.
The franchise will be in effect for a period of 25 years from the date of the effectivity of the Act, unless sooner cancelled.
RA 11759 said the franchise covers internet access through copper, fiber optics as well as satellite systems, switches and all other telecommunication systems or information and communication technologies available or will be made available through technological advances or innovations in the future.
It also allows the company to offer telecommunications services, value-added services, including internet access service, or other electronic communication services such as the transmission and reception of voice, data, facsimile, control signs, audio and video information services; or to construct, acquire, lease, and operate, or manage transmitting and receiving stations, lines, cables, or systems as are convenient and essential.
Derecho Telecommunications, in coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), should also improve and extend its services in areas not yet served, and in hazard and typhoon-prone areas that will be determined by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
RA 11759 also mandates Derecho Telecommunications to secure a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity or the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction, installation, and operation of its telecommunications systems or facilities before the NTC.
NTC, in issuing the certificate, will have the power to regulate and impose such conditions relative to the construction, operation, maintenance, or service level of the telecommunications systems or facilities; as well as revoke or suspend the franchise, the permits or licenses it issued pursuant to the franchise, after due process; or recommend to Congress the revocation of the franchise for any violation of the provisions of this franchise.
President Duterte also approved the renewal and extension of the 25-year legislative franchises of the Sultan Kudarat Telephone System Inc. and Independent Telephone Company Inc. through RA 11758 and RA 11757, respectively. The two RAs were signed into law last April 29.
Under the new laws, the telecom firms must secure from the NTC a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity or the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction, installation, and operation of its telecommunications systems or facilities; and an approval from the Department of Public Works and Highways or the local government unit concerned should they erect, lay or maintain poles or other supports for wires or other conductors, and make excavations or lay conduits in any of the public places of the province, cities, or municipalities.
The grantees are also expected to conform to the ethics of honest enterprise and not use its stations or facilities for obscene or indecent transmission, or for dissemination of deliberately false information, or willful misrepresentation, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts; as well as improve and extend its services in areas not yet served, and in hazard- and typhoon-prone areas that shall be determined by the NDRRMC in coordination with the NTC.
It shall also operate, maintain, and upgrade all its stations, lines, cables, systems, and equipment for the transmission and reception of messages, signals, and pulses in a satisfactory manner at all times, and as far as economical and practicable, modify, improve, or change such stations, lines, cables, systems, and equipment to keep abreast with the advances in science and technology.
