Express Telecom vies for more time

Filipino telecoms operator Express Telecommunications Company (Express Telecom) has requested that the regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, extend its permit to build a base station for its fledgling operation for a further six months. Express Telecom is attempting to resurrect its fortunes in the country but says it needs more time to purchase the base station needed to run its extended global system for mobile communications network (E-GSM), which will operate in the 900MHz band. The operator, a former analogue player which is in the throes of being acquired by food-to-power conglomerate San Miguel Corp (SMC), had planned to re-launch as a GSM provider this year but says it is still trying to resolve ‘issues relating to its network deployment plans’.