ON THE RADAR | November 28, 2018
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| (Image Source; Yugatech) |
The
latest edition of On The Radar is all about the impending entry of new players
that would surely produce their own contributions to the Philippine market once
they making their presence in the near future. Among them is the
highly-anticipated third telco that aims to challenge the duopoly which
dominated the local telecommunications industry through the years but marred by
negative criticism from other potential players and a world-class furniture
store that is bound to make history in Asia. Hence, these two are sure to bring
something unique and intriguing into our table.
On
November 20, 2018, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) officially
declared a joint consortium named Mislatel as the newest player to enter the Philippine
telecommunications industry and the said decree was welcomed by its major players
PLDT-Smart Communications and Globe Telecom. For anyone's information, the
Mislatel consortium is a joint venture of Udena Corporation owned by
Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecom and unprecedently won the
bidding set by the Department of Information and Communications Technology
(DICT) prior to NTC's official confirmation considering that some participants
have backed out while others were disqualified due to lack of necessary
documents. Eventually, the disqualified bidders have happened to criticize the
results of the bid and are taking their fight for the right to all possible and
available legal issues.
Regardless
of the consequences of their appeal, Mislatel has already promised the government
that it will fulfill the premise of delivering high internet speeds and
providing reliable and affordable services to millions of Filipino internet
users as they are slated to begin operations by late 2019 or early 2020 and
that is something that many should expect from the new telco player since many
have been experiencing a bevy of problems regarding their home internet
connection. Hopefully, Mislatel's own network will boost the country's engaging
chances of having its average mobile and broadband internet speeds at par with
those around the world including Singapore, Tokyo and South Korea among others.
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| A facade of IKEA's Singapore store in Tampines (Image Source: CNNPhilippines.com/IKEA Philippines) |
On
the other hand, it has been a few months since there are speculations regarding
the Swedish-based world-renouned furniture store brand IKEA's impending arrival
in the Philippines but it is sad to understand that there are those who don't
believe that it will happen. Well, these non-believers are going to eat their
words literally as IKEA has officially confirmed straight from its global
headquarters that it is coming to our local shores.
In
fact, the official confirmation was complemented by an event held inside the SM
Mall of Asia grounds which was graced by spectators, industry leaders,
personalities, media representatives and more. In fact, the SM Mall of Asia
happens to be the tentative grounds for IKEA's first official store in the
Philippines which is slated to open by 2020 and it could be its largest
flagship store yet due to the fact that it will have a gross area of more than
65,000 square meters which is about the size of two hundred basketball courts.
