BAYAN Telecommunications Inc. (Bayan) said it will appeal its bid for a 3G (third-generation) license after its application was junked by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

When asked for comment regarding the NTC’s move, a Bayan official expressed disappointment over the decision of the regulators. “We are disappointed with the NTC decision because we believe Bayan can offer 3G service,” the Bayan executive said.

The NTC recently denied the motions for reconsideration filed by Bayan, AZ Communications Network Inc., Multimedia Telephony Inc. (MTI), Next Mobile Inc. and Pacific Wireless. They all wanted to win the single remaining license allotted for 3G but they failed to meet the passing score of 20 in the NTC’s 30-point grading system.

The NTC said the Lopez-controlled phone firm failed to meet the required standards for track of record and rollout commitment.

Bayan was awarded a CMTS permit in May 2000 but was only able to launch the service this year. It said that that this was due to “governmental prohibitions beyond its control.”

“We are not persuaded by Bayan’s claim that a legal prohibition such as a stay order or an injunction, which prevented it from performing its obligations should be considered a fortuitous event. The voluntary acts of Bayan incurring debts and liabilities constitute business decisions, which decision involved inherent risks that are foreseeable,” said the NTC.

The NTC said it was too late for the telcos to correct their deficiencies as the policy clearly stated that all the requirements for 3G frequency allocation must be complete at the time of submission of application.

Bayan, however, countered that had NTC opted to reevaluate the applications of the losing 3G applicants, this will effectively entail the invalidation of the results and compel the commission to again conduct an entirely new qualification and ranking of the applicants—the qualifying ones included.

The circular on 3G was issued in August 2005. The NTC later awarded the 3G licenses to Smart Communications Inc., which got the highest score of 30 points; Globe Telecom, with 29; Digital Mobile Philippines Inc., with 28; and Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprises Inc., with 20.5.

The NTC has yet to decide what to do with the fifth slot. “We eagerly await the decision of the NTC on the fifth 3G  frequency as we remain committed to support the NTC’s mandate to spur competition in the industry,” added Bayan. 

The government agency pointed out that the frequency assignment process was not intended to serve a continuing function but merely to serve as a one-time evaluation of applicants for the five available 3G frequencies.

“It was never intended to be a continuing process for making repeated evaluations of applicants, much less those that the commission had already determined to be nonqualified,” said the NTC.

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