Vol. XXII, No. 72 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
A QUEZON City trial court has denied a motion by dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) seeking to stop the regulator from enforcing a circular that allowed a rival to offer telephone services at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
"The [PLDT] application for the issuance of a temporary restraining order is hereby denied," Judge Afable E. Cajigal said in an order dated Oct. 28.
Late last month, PLDT asked the Quezon City court to nullify the National Telecommunications (NTC) circular, which declared the area a free zone where all carriers can do business.
Globe unit Innove Communications, Inc. had started setting up infrastructure, allegedly in violation of PLDT and unit Bonifacio Communications’ contract with the owners of the property.
"The mere perception and suspicion of impartiality and prejudgment by the [NTC] is no reason to restrain that body to proceed with the hearing of the case," the trial court said.
The court likewise upheld the NTC’s jurisdiction to hear the case, which PLDT had also questioned in its petition before the court.
"In cases involving specialized disputes... the court... cannot or will not determine a controversy involving a question within the jurisdiction of the administrative tribunal," it added.
In 1995, Metro Pacific Investments Corp., a PLDT sister firm, bought the Fort Bonifacio land from the government. Originally known as Fort William McKinley, it was a 25.78-square kilometer property acquired by the US government during the American colonial period.
Included in the acquisition was a 75% stake in Bonifacio Communications. Under the deal, Bonifacio Communications would be the only provider allowed to offer services to establishments in the area, PLDT said.
But in 2002, the NTC issued a circular declaring all information technology hubs, including the Bonifacio Global City, free zones.
The court has yet to rule on the legality of the NTC circular or the exclusive contract of PLDT in the area.
"The main case is still on and we will push through with it," PLDT Spokesman Ramon R. Isberto said in an interview yesterday.
Globe, partly owned by conglomerate Ayala Corp., had used the NTC circular in September last year in having Innove set up services at the Bonifacio Global City.
When PLDT blocked Innove’s entrance to the area, Innove asked the NTC to enforce its free zone circular.
PLDT earlier complained that in the process of Innove’s setup, PLDT lines in the eSquare area of the Global City had been cut and replaced with Globe cables.
eSquare is an area primarily occupied by business process outsourcing firms that rely heavily on high-speed Internet.
Innove has accused the PLDT group of monopoly for insisting on its exclusive right in the area.
In a briefing last week, PLDT officials accused Globe of double standards, noting that Globe itself has exclusivity contracts within Ayala-owned residential and commercial properties. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo
