THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Tuesday said that it had begun a more thorough review of a proposed joint venture (JV) involving three independent telecommunications tower companies.

The antitrust watchdog has launched a Phase 2 review of the proposed deal involving PTCI Holdings Pte. Ltd. (PTCI), Connect Infrastructure (Philippines) Pte. Ltd. (CIP) and Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp. (Miescor).

The companies notified the PCC on February 21 of their proposal to form a joint venture through the acquisition of shares in a newly established company named Pylon Holdings Corp. (Pylon).

PTCI owns Phil-Tower Consortium Inc. (Phil-Tower PH), an independent tower company, through PTCI Assets Holdings. Inc., their domestic holding company.

CIP and Miescor jointly control Miescor Infrastructure Development Corp. (MIDC), another independent tower company.

The proposed transaction will grant Pylon full ownership of both Phil-Tower PH and MIDC.

In their notification to the PCC, the parties emphasized the complementary nature of Phil-Tower PH and MIDC's businesses.

"By combining their geographic footprints and diverse capabilities, the new entity would be able to offer mobile network operators a broader network coverage of towers," the PCC quoted the companies as saying.

On May 4, the commission directed its Mergers and Acquisitions Office to open a Phase 2 review of the transaction, due to limited information, to fully assess the impact on competition after the Phase 1 review.

The Phase 2 review will validate the nationwide distribution of passive towers, which are physical structures that support equipment for wireless communication of mobile network operators that lease space; and examine the monitoring processes of regulatory agencies.

It will also examine the duration and terms of the long-term contracts between independent tower companies and mobile network operators; assess the timeliness, sufficiency, and likelihood of entry and expansion of competitors into the market for tower leasing; and verify whether the transaction will result in conglomerate effects.

The Philippine Competition Act of 2015 empowers the PCC to scrutinize mergers and acquisitions to ensure that such deals do not substantially lessen competition in the relevant markets and harm consumer welfare.