Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 11841)
The franchise is renewed for another twenty-five (25) years from the date of effectivity of the Act.
The Grantee is authorized to provide basic and enhanced telecommunications services, including mobile, cellular, and wired or wireless telecommunications systems, fiber optics, multi-channel distribution systems, local multipoint distribution systems, satellite transmit, and value-added services like voice, data, facsimile, control signals, audio and video transmission, and all other telecommunications technologies available now or in the future.
The NTC must issue a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity or appropriate permits and licenses for construction, installation, and operation. It also regulates and imposes conditions on telecommunications systems or facilities, authorizes frequency usage, can revoke or suspend licenses after due process for violations, and may recommend Congress revoke the franchise.
The Grantee may excavate public places for installation with prior approval from DPWH or concerned LGU. After the work, the Grantee must repair the area in a workmanlike manner to DPWH or LGU standards. Failure to restore within 10 days after notice allows the authority to repair at twice the cost charged to the Grantee.
The Grantee must not use its stations or facilities for obscene or indecent transmissions, deliberately false information, willful misrepresentation, or aiding subversive or treasonable acts, and must maintain equipment in satisfactory condition and improve it to keep pace with technological advances.
Charges and rates for regulated telecommunications services must be approved by the NTC, should be unbundled and distinct among services, and regulated services must not subsidize unregulated ones.
In times of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster, or disturbance, the President can temporarily take over, operate, suspend, or authorize government use of the Grantee's stations or equipment with due compensation for public safety and welfare.
The franchise shall be deemed ipso facto revoked if the Grantee fails to operate continuously for two years.
The Grantee must submit an annual report on compliance and operations to Congress, including audited financials, GIS to the SEC, NTC certification, and ownership dispersal updates, on or before April 30 each year. Failure results in fines and may affect permit applications from NTC.
A fine of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) for each working day of noncompliance starting from enforcement, or an interim fine of Five hundred pesos (P500.00) per working day payable to NTC until full enforcement applies, collected separately from other NTC penalties and remitted to the Bureau of Treasury.
The franchise or rights cannot be sold, leased, transferred, assigned, or merged without prior approval of Congress. The Grantee must notify Congress within sixty (60) days after any such transaction. Failure to notify results in automatic revocation of the franchise.
The Grantee must offer at least thirty percent (30%) of its outstanding capital stocks to Filipino citizens in any Philippine securities exchange within five years from effectivity, or implement other citizen participation methods. Noncompliance results in ipso facto revocation of the franchise.
The Grantee must provide MNP with implementing mechanisms and infrastructure, interconnect with other franchisees, and must not install features that impede nationwide MNP implementation.
The Grantee is authorized to connect or demand connection to other authorized telecommunications systems in the Philippines to provide extended and improved services, subject to mutually agreed terms and NTC review and modification.
The Act takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.