MANILA - Vietnamese telecommunications firm Viettel is interested in becoming a partner for the Philippines' third telco player, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Monday.

"They expressed their interest when they called at my office last week," DICT officer-in-charge Eliseo Rio said in a text message.

Viettel's website says the firm has operations in 12 countries across Asia, Africa, and the Americas under different brands.

A broadsheet has also reported that the Vietnamese firm is in talks with local telecommunications firms.

The DICT, together with the National Telecommunications Commission, is still working on the terms of reference for the selection process of the next major telco player which will compete with Globe and PLDT.

The government aims to wrap up the bidding for the new telco and the frequencies and other perks that go with it on May 24.