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MANILA - The Court of Appeals has barred the National Telecommunications Commission from reallocating frequency bandwidth for broadband wireless access use.
In a 16-page order, the Applellate Court’s 9th division overturned two Quezon City Regional Trial Court decisions dated December 2010 and March 2011 that upheld the NTC Memorandum Circular No. 06-08-2005 stripping Atlacom Wireless Systems Inc. of its frequencies.
Atlacom was using the subject frequencies - 2572-2578 megahertz, 2578-2584 MHz, 2584-2590 Mhz and 2590-2596 Mhz - to provide a multi-point multi-channel distribution system or wireless cable TV service in Metro Manila.
The company in 2004 sought an extension of its provisional authority before its expiry in 2005, but the NTC turned down Atlacom’s request in 2008.
Instead, the NTC reallocated the said frequencies for BWA use as follows: 450-470 Mhz, 1900-1910 Mhz, 1980-1990 Mhz, 2400-2483 Mhz, 2500-2700 Mhz, 3400-3600 Mhz, 5150-5350 Mhz, 5470-5859 Mhz, and 10150-10650 Mhz.
In protest, Atlacom sought court intervention.
According to Associate Justice Ramon Cruz, the lower court committed grave abuse of discretion in upholding the NTC ruling.
The CA said Atlacom had a “clear and unmistakable right over its assigned frequencies because its PA is still valid and effective.”
“There appears to be an inordinate delay or inaction on the part of the NTC for more than three years on petitioner’s motion for extension of its PA. The NTC should have first acted on Atlacom’s requests for extensions before setting for public hearing the re-allocation of the frequencies,” the Appellate Court said.
“The withdrawal of a frequency assignment without observance of due process defeats the legislative grant and reduces any firm to a mere repository of transmitters and equipment devoid of any purpose or value. In other words, it would mean death to Atlacom’s operation and render its legislative franchise inutile,” the court said.
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