Philippines to allow China Telecom to build cell towers on military bases

Some Philippine lawmakers had called for greater scrutiny of the deal, out of concerns that the company could be a ‘Trojan horse’ for stealing state secrets

It comes at a time of heightened cybersecurity fears surrounding Chinese tech giant Huawei, which the US put on a trade blacklist in May

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A China Telecom booth pictured at the fifth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:57pm, 11 Sep 2019Updated: 1:54pm, 12 Dec 2019

The Philippine military agreed on Wednesday to allow a new cellphone network powered by a Chinese state telecoms giant to install communications equipment on its army bases, despite concerns among some lawmakers about possible espionage.

The military said in a statement it had signed a preliminary agreement with Mislatel, a consortium controlled by Philippine tycoon Dennis Uy, to install communications facilities and towers at its camps and installations.

Dennis Uy is a close associated of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (pictured). Photo: AFP

Uy, a close associate of President Rodrigo Duterte, was awarded the country’s third telecoms licence last year, helped by the last-minute withdrawal or disqualification of other bidders.

His two holding companies, which have no prior experience in telecommunications, have partnered with China Telecom, which currently owns a 40 per cent stake, the maximum permitted under an archaic Philippines law that the government has promised to amend to support foreign investment.

The agreement comes despite calls for deeper scrutiny from some Philippine lawmakers concerned that state-controlled China Telecom could be a “Trojan horse” with the capability to access state secrets.

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