01 December 2023

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has renewed NOW Telecom’s license to operate mobile services using the 800MHz band, keeping its hopes alive to crack the market’s mobile sector.

Mel Velarde, chair of NOW Telecom’s parent company NOW Group, said that the license renewal was a “much needed boost” for its plans to enter the Philippines mobile market to take on incumbents PLDT/Smart and Globe Telecom, and newcomer DITO Telecommunity. Velarde also said the renewed 800MHz licence would “strengthen the communications security and connectivity to vital critical infrastructures in the country.”

NOW Telecom plans to establish critical communications infrastructure for sectors such as dams, defense, industrial bases, government facilities and power plants that require secure, reliable and robust communications systems using only trusted equipment. According to local media, NOW Telecom has been talking with the Philippine military, the Cybersecurity Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC), and the US Department of Homeland Security to identify which sectors would benefit from critical comms infrastructure.