In a decision penned by Associate Justice Mario Guariña III, the appellate court said it “seals the ruling with finality” and dismissed separate appeals filed by Multi-Media Telephony Inc. and AZ Communication Network.
“Courts have afforded great respect to the interpretation by administrative agencies of their own rules and will defer to their dispositions unless there is an error of law or grave abuse of discretion which is not present here,” the ruling said.
The dismissal of Multi-Media’s plea was the court’s second ruling in a month after upholding NTC’s 3G awarding process and evaluation.
The appellate court on May 26 did not overturn two of the NTC’s decisions—the one denying AZ Communication’s application for a 3G license and the other rejecting its appeal.
Multi-Media claimed the NTC’s evaluation of 3G applicants violated due process and protection against retroactivity, noting a sudden requirement that was not in the NTC’s 2005 rules.
Multi-Media said it should have been ranked fourth, instead of Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise Inc., now a unit of PLDT.
Guariña said “the adoption of the 20-point qualification threshold by the NTC in evaluating the credentials of the applicants is reasonable and made pursuant to its quasi-judicial powers.”
The NTC in 2006 granted 10 Mhz of 3G frequency to Cure, Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom Inc. and Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc.
Bayan Telecommunications Inc. had a pending appeal with the Supreme Court contesting the 3G auction, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said.
He said the regulator would wait for the decision of the high court before proceeding with the awarding of the last 3G frequency.
The last 3G frequency is the industry’s most-sought-after bandwidth. It is crucial in the deployment of broadband services, which are considered the next major source of revenue in the telecom industry.
