MANILA - Express Telecommunications Co. Inc. (Extelcom) has complained against a regulatory decision not to recall unused frequencies assigned to Bell Telecommunication Philippines Inc. (BellTel), whose permit to operate a mobile network was also recently extended.

Extelcom's majority shareholder, Trans Digital Excel Inc. (TDE), said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should reallocate BellTel's frequencies, which have not been operated for 11 years. It added that these should be used for cellular mobile telecommunications system (CMTS) since there are not enough frequencies for this popular service.

"BellTel’s assigned frequencies in 1998 within the 1710-1720 and 1805-1815 MHz band is for a wireless local loop (WLL), which has been rendered virtually obsolete by current technology and should thus be put to different use," said TDE legal counsel Plaridel Bohol II.

He noted that BellTel "had intended but never even purchased" suitable equipment for its 2 local stations since being awarded the frequencies.

"Why should the frequency be held hostage by a company with little or no plan to use it when it can be put to much better use by others for GSM," said Bohol.

He said the frequency band 1710-1720/1805-1815 MHz has been identified by the International Telecommunications Union as a suitable frequency for GSM, and a considerable number of countries have allocated and are using the band for CMTS.

"This means that the CMTS technology platforms operating on this band have attained considerable maturity that it is now possible to deploy a CMTS network on the said frequency," said Bohol.

Aside from this, Bohol said a CMTS reallocation would earn the government more of much-needed revenues in the form of spectrum user fees that BellTel has yet to pay.

Earlier, the NTC junked an administrative case filed by its Frequency Management Division (FMD) seeking the revocation of the radio frequencies assigned to BellTel.

The FMD pointed out that BellTel has not sought permits for almost all of the 87 stations it was supposed to put up since it was given the frequencies 11 years ago.

It included BellTel’s frequencies in the list of candidates for revocation following an order by then Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza to recall those that are being "hoarded," because they remain unused or under-utilized by companies that wish make quick profit.