By Emmie V. Abadilla
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)'s Oversight Committee on the new major player (NMP) will decide this Friday, July 20, 2018, on how to select the country's third telco provider.
The Oversight Committee, composed of the DICT, the Department of Finance (DoF), the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), and the National Security Adviser (NSA), will formulate the final Terms of Reference (ToR) for the selection process.
Interestingly, DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio yesterday (July 17) issued a statement on his supposed "next move" should the Oversight Committee still not prefer the Highest Committed Level of Service (HCLoS) model for selecting the NMP this Friday.
He maintained that he did not "expect it (his earlier statement) to be publicized" and "regardless (of what he has said), on Friday, this will be surely resolved, one way or another.”
"We are very confident in the viability of the Highest Committed Level of Service (HCLoS) model in choosing a truly competent TelCo, and one that is dedicated to service and not just for profit,” according to Rio's statement.
The HCLoS model is consistent with the DICT-backed Terms of Reference as it is "geared towards allowing the NMP to truly compete with the incumbent telcos".
In the 3rd Stakeholders Consultation last July 6, 11 out of 15 interested companies favored the HCLoS model while only two voted in favor of an auction.
Among public stakeholders that DICT surveyed, 96 percent of the participants supported the HCLoS.