You lose some, you win some. That?s basically the circumstances for Globe Telecom which bared on Tuesday, Nov. 11, that the Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed a joint use agreement between the Ayala-led mobile operator and Bayan Telecommunications of frequencies assigned to the latter.
The CA decision was promulgated on October 24, 2014.
Earlier, its fierce rival Smart Communications was able to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the appellate court?s 17th division which prevented the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) from acting on Globe and Bayan?s joint application for the acquisition by Globe of a majority stake in Bayan.
This time, the CA?s special former 12th division rejected the motion for reconsideration filed by Smart Communications in an earlier petition relating to the NTC?s joint use between Globe and Bayantel of the latter?s frequencies along the 1800 MHz band.
The NTC approved in September 2012 a collaborative use of Bayantel frequencies. Smart then filed a petition for certiorari seeking to nullify the NTC?s decision, saying the regulatory agency gravely abused its discretion when it approved the joint use agreement
In upholding the earlier decision of the NTC approving the spectrum co-use, the CA said the NTC ?cannot be said that it acted with grave abuse of discretion?.
The court added that ?the grant of the joint use was made subject to fail-safe conditions and upon approval of the rehabilitation court?.
?Smart argues on what NTC should have done with the purported non-use of Bayantel?s allocated frequencies, but it has failed to show that the grant of the joint use is contrary to law or is patent and gross as to amount of grave abuse of discretion,? it added.
Smart then filed a motion for reconsideration, which the CA dismissed with finality.
