China has been offered the "privilege" of providing the Philippines with its third telecoms operator by president Rodrigo Duterte, marking a further shift in political alliances with an historic rival. The deal, with an as yet unnamed Chinese provider, ends a longstanding duopoly in the archipelago's telecoms industry. The Philippines' data and voice services are among the slowest in Asia-Pacific’s, and its two providers, PLDT and Globe Telecoms, have been warned either to improve or face new competition.
China has been offered the "privilege" of providing the Philippines with its third telecoms operator by president Rodrigo Duterte, marking a further shift in political alliances with an historic rival. The deal, with an as yet unnamed Chinese provider, ends a longstanding duopoly in the archipelago's telecoms industry. The Philippines' data and voice services are among the slowest in the Asia-Pacific, and its two providers, PLDT and Globe Telecoms, have been warned either to improve or face new competition.