NTC pours water on Smart party; new frequencies ‘only temporary’

The Philippines’ telecoms regulator the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) yesterday removed some of the gloss from Smart’s recent announcement that it has secured 20MHz of spectrum in the 2.5GHz-2.7GHz band, when it pointed out the bandwidth in question is for temporary use only and cannot be utilised for commercial services. The watchdog says it has issued the spectrum on the condition that Smart agrees to use the frequency to support the programme of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission in Information and Communications Technology (CICT) in providing all public secondary schools’ internet connection. ‘The NTC shall monitor Smart Broadband Inc.’s [SBI] compliance with the commitment to support the programme with an understanding that in the event that Smart fails in its commitment, the commission shall recall the frequencies granted for reassignment to other qualified entities as the NTC deems fit,’ the BusinessMirror quotes the agency as saying.