MANILA, The Philippines-Digital Telecommunications (Digitel) expects to launch its cellular service business by the end of the month, according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the Philippines’ telecom watchdog.
NTC’s common carriers authorization division head Edgardo Cabarios stated that Digitel legal head William Pamintuan has given the NTC a notice that “within the month” there will be a development in its interconnection talks with Smart Communications.
Interconnection with the country’s leading wireless phone service provider is necessary for Digitel’s cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) to succeed, Cabarios pointed out.
It has been more than a year since Digitel started negotiations to interconnect with Smart and the second-ranked wireless service provider, Globe Telecom. Both leading companies have more than a combined 14 million subscribers to date.
The Filipino-Chinese Gokongwei family is the majority owner of Digitel.
