Philippine president Rodrigo Roa Duterte has awarded the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to the Mindanao Islamic Telephone (Mislatel) consortium. Mislatel has already complied with the conditions set by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Philippine Competition Commission and posted a performance security bond of PHP 25.7 billion. NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said Mislatel’s license covers the 700 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2000 MHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz frequency bands.
Mislatel has announced plans to upgrade the average internet speeds on the local market from 4.5 Mbps to 55 Mbps. Mislatel intends to expand 55 Mbps internet to 84.01 percent of the Philippine population in five years. Mislatel will invest PHP 257 billion in infrastructure and services rollout during the same period.
The Mislatel consortium comprises Udenna, China Telecom, and Chelsea Logistics. Mislatel is Philippines' third mobile operator, and will compete with Globe Telecom and PLDT's mobile unit Smart Communications.
