The new third telco in the Philippines wants to bring internet connection speeds to nearly as fast as Singapore, a Cabinet official said Thursday.
Mislatel Consortium, a joint venture between China Telecom and Davao tycoon Dennis Uy, pledged minimum speed of 27 mbps in its first year, said Department of Information and Communications Technology officer in charge Eliseo Rio.
Globe Telecom and PLDT offers only up to 10 mbps in their most basic packages.
With the promise to bring speeds to 55 mbps by the second year of operations, Mislatel will be "nearly at par" with speeds in Singapore, Rio said.
Should it fail to fulfill its commitments, Rio said the government would take back the frequency awarded to Mislatel and collect a P14-billion performance bond.
"Kung hindi nila magawa iyan, bibigyan namin sila ng 6 months na palugit para mag-comply. Kung hindi nila ma-comply 'yan, sorry, " he said.
Mislatel is expected to begin accepting subscribers by mid-2019, Rio said.
President Rodrigo Duterte had pushed for the entry of a third telco player to challenge PLDT and Globe, and improve communication and internet services in the Philippines.