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SMART
Communications Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), now owns
Ongpin-led Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise
(CURE), a licensed 3G (third-generation) operator.
CURE is
96.57-percent owned by PH Communications Holdings Corp.
and 3.43 percent by and Francom Holdings Inc. (FHI).
Smart said Monday it bought the entire issued and
outstanding capital stock of PH Communications and FHI
for P419.54 million. PH Communications and FHI were
controlled by an investor group led by Roberto Ongpin.
The
acquisition dovetails with Smart’s previously announced
plan to provide expanded and enhanced 3G services
nationwide, including higher speed wireless broadband
services. CURE, meanwhile, is envisioned to provide
Smart with a platform to offer and provide
differentiated 3G services for niche markets.
Smart
also intends to invest up to P210 million in CURE, in
the form of new share subscriptions. Cure will use the
money as working capital.
CURE has
one of four licensees awarded by the National
Telecommunications Commission (NTC) with a 3G frequency
in December 2006. It was given the 10 Megahertz (Mhz)
frequency in the 2100 Mhz band.
It is
set to launch its commercial service next May.
CURE
president and chief executive officer Eric Recto had
said the company activated its 3G network last December
15, 2006 and is in the process of optimizing its network
performance and coverage in preparation for a commercial
launch.
The
number of 3G subscribers during the period reached
1,000, CURE told the NTC. Its 3G network has 30 sites
that cover the cities of Makati, Mandaluyong and Pasig,
with secondary signal coverage in some areas of Taguig,
Pasay,
Manila
and Quezon City. The company is committed to cover at
least 95 percent of provincial cities and municipalities
and 90 percent of chartered cities within 60 months from
January 2006.
The
company earlier said it will install an initial number
of 280 base stations, which will serve as an initial
market niche of at least 200,000 subscribers in selected
areas.
CURE
said earlier it has set P11.55 billion in capital
expenditure for its five-year rollout plan. Of this,
P3.95 billion will be spent in the first year; P1.93
billion in the second year; P2.48 billion in the third
year; P1.66 billion in the fourth year; and P1.85
billion in the fifth year.
Smart,
meanwhile, wants more 3G bandwidth from the NTC to
support a planned expansion of the service. It wants the
825-835 (MHz)/870-880 MHz bandwidth.
The
additional frequency will support media applications for
video-streaming, video-conferencing, creation and
generation of user content, medical and hospital remote
medical diagnosis and teleradiology, business
functionalities, distance education or e-learning,
e-government, telemetry for machine-to-machine
applications, real-time and on-demand security
monitoring and surveillance.
“These
new services will allow the country to stand out in the
development and delivery of 3G services and at the same
time fulfill the NTC’s mandate of developing and
providing broadband or high-speed Internet access
nationwide,” said Smart legal head Enrico Español.
Smart
said the “more complex” applications are said to be
crucial in delivering improved and enhanced services
especially in the fields of education, medicine and
security.
“The
additional frequency band is necessary to enable Smart
to offer a new and expanded range of leading-edge and
high-speed data 3G services involving more complex
applications which require wider and bigger bandwidth
and faster data speeds,” said Español. |
