The bill that would give telecommunications firm Dito Telecommunity a fresh, 25-year legislative franchise is now up for President Duterte's approval.
This, as the House of Representatives adopted during its plenary session on Thursday, March 25, the amendments of the Senate to the House Bill No. 7332, which the upper chamber passed on third and final reading Wednesday.
The House Committee on Legislative Franchises did not object to the Senate's amendments.
In effect, Congress would no longer have to convene a bicameral conference committee to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the versions approved by the House and the Senate.
The measure will just be transmitted to Malacañang for Duterte's signature.
Dito, formerly called Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (Mislatel), was chosen as the Philippines' third major telecommunications player to break the duopoly of Smart Communications and Globe Telecom and improve communications and internet services in the country.
It is a consortium of the corporations owned by Davao-based businessman and Duterte ally Dennis Uy and state-owned China Telecommunications Corp.
Its current franchise, first granted to Mislatel in 1998, expires in April, 2023.
Last March 8, Dito started its commercial rollout in at least 15 cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) found that the telco exceeded its first-year commitment to cover at least 37 percent of the country's population and provide a minimum internet speed of 27 Megabits per second (mbps).
Dito covers 37.48 percent of the population, and offers a minimum average internet speed of 85.9 mbps for 4G, and 507.5 mbps for 5G, said the NTC.
Aside from Dito's franchise, the House also concurred with the Senate's amendments to the franchise of new telco Instant Data, Inc.; as well as for the Davao City government for its disaster preparedness-oriented broadcast station (HB No. 7488); the Palawan Broadcasting Corporation (HB No. 8553); the Mindanao-based Highland Broadcasting Network Corp. (HB No. 8860); and the University of the Philippines System (HB No. 7616).