China Telecommunications Corp. (Chinatel) has inked a US$5.4 billion investment deal with Udenna Corp., through Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. (Mislatel) formalizing the provisional entry of a new major player in the Philippine telecommunications market. The consortium is made up of Mislatel, Udenna, Chelsea Logistics, and Chinatel. Mislatel secured a franchise to operate from Congress in 1998. They are expected to improve competition as they go against Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to break this duopoly in the telecommunications market.
The PunoLaw team that negotiated for Chinatel was led by Senior Partners Jon Serrano and Minette Santos and included Senior Associate Cris Bernardino. PunoLaw provided advice on, among others, foreign ownership, operation, management and governance limitations in telecommunications industry and congressional franchise of Mislatel.