PLDT-Digitel deal still under review, PNoy says

President Benigno Aquino said the deal between the Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) remains under review. Aquino said he only wants to make sure there will be a level playing field and no monopoly in the telecommunications industry, when PLDT and Digitel would merge. "So 'yun ang hinahabol: Paano ba magkaroon ng level playing field? At ang endpoint ‘non, masyadong importante ‘yan sa governance natin to be able to do so many things. Now, if there's only one entity, you remember when it was all landlines. Ang figure raw, we have how many cellular phones now? About 85 million. ‘Yung landlines daw po yata umabot ng two million. So if you have one monopoly you are dependent on the fortunes of just one entity,” Aquino told reporters in China. Earlier, JG Summit Holdings Inc. President and Chief Operations Officer Lance Gokongwei told reporters in China that he was confident the government would approve the PLDT-Digitel deal because it would ultimately benefit the Filipino people. "The objectives of shareholders of both PLDT and Digitel are aligned, but more important, that the deal will benefit ultimately the Filipino consumer primarily in terms of providing accessible broadband services to the entire Filipino nation,” he said. Both PLDT and Digitel have agreed they would revert to their board of directors on what the next steps are. Earlier, businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT chairman, threatened to drop the deal if it is not approved by August 26, the deadline for the closing of the deal. However, the National Telecommunications Commission has yet to give its decision on the matter.