Push Admin

Court keeps watchdog from probing PLDT-Globe deal

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The Court of Appeals has denied a government anti-trust watchdog&#x27;s petition to proceed with its investigation on PLDT Inc and Globe Telecom&#x27;s acquisition of a competitor&#x27;s assets.The court kept its injunction on the Philippine Competition Commission&#x27;s review and directed the body to remove from its website a note which said that the P70-billion deal was likely to restrict competition in the telecommunications field.Globe and PLDT were also ordered to refrain from commenting on the deal.The country&#x27;s two largest telcos bought <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/30/16/pldt-globe-to-acquire-san-miguels-telecom-business">San Miguel Corp&#x27;s</a> telecommunications assets in May last year, effectively stopping the entry of a third industry player.&quot;That&#x27;s a brilliant move by the Court of Appeals,&quot; First Metro Asset Management president Gus Cosio told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Market Edge with Cathy Yang.&quot;Cosio said &quot;there&#x27;s nothing anti-competition&quot; about PLDT and Globe sharing San Miguel&#x27;s assets, since this will likely improve service.&quot;The PCC should focus on making us more competitive rather than hounding companies that are trying to provide good service to the population,&quot; Cosio said.

The Court of Appeals has denied a government anti-trust watchdog's petition to proceed with its investigation on PLDT Inc and Globe Telecom's acquisition of a competitor's assets.

The Court of Appeals has denied a government anti-trust watchdog's petition to proceed with its investigation on PLDT Inc and Globe Telecom's acquisition of a competitor's assets.