Philippines to allow China-backed telco to build towers on military bases

MANILA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The Philippine military agreed
on Wednesday to allow a new cellphone network powered by a
Chinese state telecoms giant to install communications equipment
on its army bases, despite concerns among some lawmakers about
possible espionage.
The military said in a statement it had signed a preliminary
agreement with Mislatel, a consortium controlled by Philippine
tycoon Dennis Uy, to install communications facilities and
towers at its camps and installations.
Uy, a close associate of President Rodrigo Duterte, was
awarded the country's third telecoms license last year, helped
by the last-minute withdrawal or disqualification of other
bidders. His two holding companies, which have no prior experience in
telecommunications, have partnered with China Telecom 0728.HK ,
which currently owns a 40% stake, the maximum permitted under an
archaic Philippines law that the government has promised to
amend to support foreign investment.
The agreement comes despite calls for deeper scrutiny from
some Philippine lawmakers concerned that state-controlled China
Telecom could be a "Trojan horse https://reut.rs/2NXdg9g" with
the capability to access state secrets.
It comes at a time of heightened cyber security fears
surrounding Chinese national icon Huawei Technologies HWT.UL ,
the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, which
has been placed on a U.S. trade blacklist since May.
Washington has been urging its allies, Manila included, not
to use Huawei gear, which the Beijing government could use for
espionage, an allegation Huawei has denied.
In a statement, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
said Mislatel "guarantees that the devices, equipment, and/or
structures installed at the site provided by the AFP shall not
be used to obtain classified information" as a measure to
prevent electronic espionage.
It noted that the AFP had a similar arrangement with the
other two domestic mobile firms, Globe Telecom GLO.PS and
rival PLDT TEL.PS .
The move aims to free-up state land to construct towers to
try to address a shortfall that has for years resulted in
intermittent signals, patchy coverage and dropped calls, with
the country's two networks inundated with traffic among the
country's 107 million population. Globe and PLDT blame excessive
permit requirements for slowing their network expansion.
Once operational, the new player's network will be called
Dito, or "here" in Filipino.
"The roll-out of Dito's towers is indeed one Herculean
feat," Uy said in a statement. "We are nearer our goal of
building a wide and robust network."

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Philippines invites newcomer to transform its troubled telco
sector ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>