Bayan still seeking 3G licence

Bayan Telecommunications (Bayan) is doggedly pursuing its bid for a 3G mobile operating licence despite a number of setbacks, BusinessMirror reports. The telco, a unit of the Lopez group, has submitted a motion for reconsideration before the Court of Appeals (CA) asking the court to approve its credentials to be assigned 3G frequency spectrum. Earlier the CA turned down Bayan’s petition to annul the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC’s) order dismissing the operator’s application, saying its motion failed on ‘procedural and substantive grounds’. In its filing Bayan reiterated its belief that it is ‘among the best-qualified applicant[s] for a 3G licence given that it has rolled out a 3G-compliant network which it claims now has about 200,000 subscribers’. The NTC is currently weighing up the award of the country’s fifth and final 3G operating licence.