'Based on our determination, there are just four qualified applicants and there are five available frequencies, therefore there is no need for a bidding,' Solis said. 'We don't have taxing power. These are regulatory fees only and the law says that in imposing regulatory fees it must be in reasonable amounts.'

NOT A TAXSuarez, however, contended that they are not asking NTC to impose a tax. 'It's a fee and there is no limitation in any government action whether the government pays or collects. The issue here is what is advantageous for the government.'

Yet in calling for a new fee structure, Suarez said they are also being careful in claiming that they do not want carriers in the Philippines to experience what happened to telcos abroad which spent so much in acquiring 3G licenses and then failed to roll out their networks, causing them to end up deeply in debt.

'In England, Vodaphone bid $32 billion, that is P1.5 trillion. One player in Germany alone made a bid for a trillion pesos, which is the equivalent of our national budget,' he said. 'But they had problems in rolling out their networks and we don't want that to happen in our country.'