A unanimous decision by NTC officials ruled that Now Telecom “severely underutilised its assigned spectrum” and has more than PHP3.57 billion (USD$62.33 million) of unpaid regulatory fees.
The regulator deemed the operator’s licence to be “inoperative”, having found the operator had installed just six of its planned 2,306 base stations and missed an 18-month deadline to infuse additional capital accrued in 2020.
A financial filing from Now Corp, the Filipino conglomerate that majority owns the operator, claims the NTC failed to provide a copy of the order.
“NTC’s press release came out ahead of NOW Telecom’s receipt of the NTC Order,” Now’s parent firm said. “Both the Company and its associate have no knowledge of the actual issuance as well as the contents of the said NTC Order.”
Now Telecom was founded in 1992 as Satellite Paging Systems Philippines before rebranding as ICTV in the mid-2000s.
The operator became Now Telecom after ICTV rebranded to Now Corp, with the telco emerging to replace the Next Mobile brand.
Compared to market leaders like PLDT and Globe Telecom, which account for over 80% of the revenue share of the Philippines' telecom market, Now is a smaller player in the Philippines, providing wireless broadband services to corporate customers and urban areas.
Now Telecom aimed to challenge dominant players, having been actively investing in infrastructure and innovation.
However, the country’s telecom regulator has put a halt to those plans, with its order stating Now had previously agreed to terms that if it were to violate related rules it could lead to the loss of its assigned frequencies.
The NTC has denied Now’s attempt for an extension on the grounds it has repeatedly failed to meet deadlines for fees and rollouts.
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