PTI-MPLA negotiations remain stalled

Negotiations between the Marianas Public Lands Authority and Pacific Telecom, Inc. have yet to resume after being stalled last week.

PTI president Jose Ricardo P.R. Delgado, Jr. said that, although he believes that his company would prevail in the lawsuit filed against it by the MPLA, he would like the negotiations to continue so that an amicable settlement can be reached with the agency.

Delgado said the legal dispute only distracts the company from devoting its full attention to upgrading its services in the CNMI, besides projecting a wrong signal to potential investors.

Despite the filing of the lawsuit against his company, Delgado said he is very happy with his $60-million investment, and commended the company’s employees for their commitment.

Delgado vowed to bring in different call centers to the CNMI, which would provide more job opportunities in the CNMI. Recently, We Manage Calls, Inc. owner Eric Van Der Maas filed with the Commonwealth Development Authority an application for a qualifying certificate.

Noting that the CNMI’s CDMA coverage encompasses even Tinian and Rota, Delgado said his company would also come up with new packages regarding its long-distance services, since there is a high number of foreigners based in the CNMI.

PTI general manager Tony Mosley said he would contact MPLA commissioner Edward DeLeon Guerrero today to see if the agency is ready to go back to the negotiating table. Mosley earlier informed Gov. Juan N. Babauta about the stalled talks, and the governor reportedly assured PTI that he would strongly urge the MPLA’s board to resume negotiations with the company.

The new negotiations temporarily stopped after MPLA lawyer Ramon K. Quichocho allegedly raised his voice at former CNMI Chief Justice Jose Dela Cruz, a PTI board member and part of the company’s negotiating team. Quichocho alleged that he and Dela Cruz raised their voices against each other after the former magistrate yelled at him, accusing the latter of intimidation.

In seeking the governor’s intervention, Mosley said PTI wants Quichocho removed from the MPLA’s negotiating team. Quichocho himself had said he is willing to recuse himself from the negotiations, saying that the other members of the MPLA panel—DeLeon Guerrero, board member Nicolas Nekai, and deputy commissioner Vince Castro—are able to continue with the talks.

MTC and PTI had sought the transfer of the MPLA’s lawsuit against them from the CNMI Superior Court to Saipan’s federal court, alleging that the agency’s causes of action were based on claims that infringe upon the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

MTC and PTI filed with the federal court a notice of removal, saying that MTC is a duly franchised CNMI telecommunications local exchange carrier subject to the provisions of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. The companies also accused the MPLA of engaging in discriminatory practices, particularly in the agency’s bid to impose certain public land lease and easement requirements.

The MPLA and its board have sued the companies at the Superior Court for alleged breach of public land leases and for alleged improper use of public lands easement in burying their cables without paying the agency some easement fees. The MPLA filed the suit in early October after the companies disputed its demand for payment of some $2.1 million related to the easement fees—less than a month after PTI purchased MTC.