MANILA, The Philippines-The Philippine National Telecommunications Commission (NT) said Express Telecommunications (Extelcom) will have to make do with its existing digital frequency initially before setting its sights on seeking additional bandwidth.
NTC’s Common Carriers Authorization Department (CCAD) head Edgardo Cabarios said the cash-strapped telecom firm should proceed with the rollout of its GSM infrastructure despite having only 5 megahertz of spectrum. He added that Extelcom should first test the market with its existing frequencies and determine whether it will need additional frequencies for its GSM network.
Extelcom, which currently operates an AMPS network, was granted 5 megahertz of spectrum on the 900/1800 MHz bandwidth in September 2001. With this GSM spectrum, the telecom firm started to finalize its plans to go digital by filing with the NTC a notice of purchase for GSM equipment that same month.
However, Extelcom President Filomena Veto said this week the company would shelve plans to go digital unless it posts positive profits this month and improves its subscriber base from 120,000 to 150,000 by the end of the year. Its subscriber base is currently at 100,000.
