MANILA - Telecom firm Philippine Global Communications Inc. (Philcom Inc.) told the regulators last week that its subsidiary Philcom Corp. will now be owned, managed and operated by phone giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

In support of an earlier application filed before the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Philcom Inc.—in a manifestation submitted to the agency—said it owns a total of 8 million shares in Philcom Corp., representing all its issued and outstanding capital stocks.

Philcom Corp. currently manages the parent firm’s telephone and other telecom services in some areas in Mindanao as a result of the latter’s reorganization.

Philcom Corp. executed in January a deed of assignment in favor of PLDT conveying all of its sale shares consisting of 8 million shares. “The said conveyance by Philcom Inc. to PLDT of the said shares of stock will vest in PLDT the controlling interest in Philcom Corp.,” said Philcom Inc., which now seeks the nod of the NTC to approve the deed of assignment of shares between the companies.

Upon the execution of the deed of assignment, PLDT will manage, operate and maintain telephone and other telecommunications services in certain areas in Mindanao.

Philcom Corp. operates in the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Basilan, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Misamis Oriental, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur. It also has 16 local exchanges in Mindanao including Cagayan de Oro, Panabo and Butuan City .

Among its other services, Philcom Corp. also offers Voice Connect Direct Access, which is dedicated to private telephone lines, a service that provides connection for large volume of domestic and international long-distance traffic, and Internet access, providing customers with the required bandwidth to connect to the Internet utilizing any form of last-mile facility from domestic private line to wireless connection.

It has 26 interconnection agreements and more than 16 overseas correspondent relationships. They include PLDT, Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc., Bayan Telecommunications Inc., Eastern Telecommunication Philippines Inc., Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc., Bell Telecoms, Next Mobile and Express Telecom. It also has tieups with Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.

Earlier, PLDT said it bought all of Philcom Corp.’s liabilities from Premier Global Resources Corp. (PGRC) for P340 million. PGR is a separate company that held all of Philcom Corp.’s debts.

The phone giant’s acquisition will allow the PLDT group to broaden its presence in Mindanao, where it already has operations carried out under PLDT-Maratel Inc. and Smart Broadband, Inc. “This expanded presence is expected to benefit not only the existing subscribers in the area, but provides the communities in the area an opportunity to access improved telecommunications facilities,” PLDT had said.