Now Corp. unit Now Telecom has asked the Supreme Court to order the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to recompute its alleged P2.6 billion unpaid spectrum regulatory fees (SRF).
In a 22-page comment filed before the Supreme Court dated September 1, Now Telecom asked the high court to order the NTC to base the computation of SRF only on its capital stock of P1.398 billion and remove the imposition of any penalty and interest.
“NTC’s computation of the SRF is erroneous as the regulator based the SRF not on the subscribed and paid-up capital of P1.39 billion, but on the P13.57 billion, which is the sum of the capital stock of P1.39 billion and the additional paid-in capital of P12.17 billion,” Now Telecom said. The company said contrary to the NTC’s presented figures, its paid capital from 2005 to 2016 was only P1.3 billion, while P13.6 billion was erroneously quoted.
It said the accurate figures are consistent with the audited financial statements it annually filed with the NTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Now Telecom also pointed out discrepancies in the NTC’s reference to a Commission on Audit (COA) letter, which claims over P3 billion in unresolved receivables spanning 14 years.
“The crucial COA Letter was conspicuously absent from NTC’s official documents, replaced by correspondence with the Office of the Solicitor General, casting doubts on the authenticity of the claim,” the company added.
Mel Velarde, Now Group chairman, appealed to the Marcos administration to “effect a level playing field” for Now Telecom to compete head-on with Dito Telcommunity Corp., Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.
“We are confident that this SRF issue will be finally resolved,” Velarde said.
In 2018, Now Telecom’s franchise that covers telecom, mobile telephony systems and outer space communications was extended until 2043. – Myla Iglesias
