The Rehabilitation Court of Pasig City in the Philippines has approved Bayan Telecommunications Inc (Bayan’s) proposed frequency sharing plan with fellow operator Globe Telecom, GMA News reports. The court reportedly rubber-stamped the decision for the joint use of spectrum by the pair on 25 February 2013, according to a statement from industry regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The joint use of the frequencies will improve the efficiency of both firms’ operations, helping to reduce network congestion, so that they can comply with the quality of service orders prescribed by the NTC.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in January this year the NTC gave Bayan additional time to gain the approval of the rehabilitation court for its proposed frequency-sharing plan with Globe Telecom. The details of the extension request were contained within a letter dated 21 December 2012 from the NTC to Bayan’s legal counsel, Ariel Tubayan, and concerned the latter’s request ‘for extension of at least 60 days or until 7 March 2013 within which to comply with the condition imposed by the NTC in the provisional approval of the joint use by Bayan Telecommunications Inc and Globe Telecom of the frequencies 1750MHz-1760MHz/1845MHz-1855MHz assigned to Bayan.’ Bayan had previously received the watchdog’s provisional approval (dated September 2012), on 7 November, and subsequently wrote to the NTC on 14 December to request an extension until March 2013.