NTC asked to grant ‘ABS’ authority to operate beyond May 4, 2020

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 11:43:32 +0000

In an apparent move to guarantee good faith in acting on bills seeking to extend the legislative franchise of ABS-CBN, the chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchise yesterday asked the National Telecommunications Commission to grant ABS-CBN provisional authority to operate beyond May 4, 2020.

In a letter sent to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordova, Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez said a provisional authority to operate should be issued to ABS-CBN until such time that Congress has reached a decision on pending bills proposing a 25-year franchise renewal.

Alvarez made this move after House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano aired assurances that the problematic network may operate even after its existing congressional franchise has expired on May 4, 2020.

The Palawan lawmaker has asked the NTC to extend the authority to operate to ABS-CBN subsidiaries ABS-CBN Convergence Inc., Sky Cable Corp., and Amcara Broadcasting Network Inc.

The ABS-CBN franchise is set to expire on May 4, 2020 because RA 7966 stipulates that the fr
http://tempo.com.ph/feed/