Tarlac Rep. Victor Yap, chairman of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology, on Monday, February 15 aired concern over the capability of the China-backed DITO Telecommunity Corp. to spark a stiff rivalry with existing players, and thereby benefit consumers.
Yap expressed his views on the issue even as he lauded the statement of Globe Telecom Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernes Cu about the company being ready for the entry of the China-backed DITO Telecommunity Corp.
For this reason, the House panel chairman is observing if the consortium owned by businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecommunications Corp. would be able to sustain the initiatives of business tycoon John Gokongwei Jr of Digitel Telecommunications Inc. of providing stiff competition, particularly with Sun Cellular’s offer of lower service rates.
"Will Dennis Uy ignite price war like Gokongwei? Ernest Cu says Globe is ready for ‘aggression’ from DITO. We’ll see how they play the game," said Yap in a statement.
"(But) If there’s no true price war that happens, then, it’s what I feared a result of no real competition even with a third player,” the former Tarlac governor said.
He called on DITO to meet people’s expectation of getting new choices that could offer not only better service but affordable rates, as well.
As to the criticism about the allegedly slow network rollout of the Filipino-Chinese telecom partnership , Yap reminded the firm to be more aggressive. He said there should be no delay in launching its operations.
“They should be aggressive given the demand for good services. We hope that it is not the usual permits and permissions making delays,” the lawmaker said.