MANILA - NOW Corp said Monday the National Telecommunications Commission has extended the provisional authority of its telco unit NOW Telecom to install, operate and maintain a mobile telecommunications system.

Under the NTC order, the provisional authority is subject to infusion of an additional P1.9 billion capital, NOW Corp said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

It also required NOW Telecom to accelerate the installation of broadband data services in suburban and rural areas.

NOW Corp said its telco unit is one of the 4 firms with cellular mobile telephone service (CMTS) licenses in the country, which included Smart, Globe and DITO Telecommunity.

NOW Telecom is also preparing for public listing via way of introduction at the Philippine Stock Exchange and its 5G offering, it said.

"As the country’s fourth telco, NOW Telecom, an affiliate of publicly listed telecommunications, media, and technology firm NOW Corp, is currently setting the stage for its public listing as well as its 5G or fifth generation network rollout," it said.

“We are moving forward with the corporate restructuring of NOW Telecom to take it to the next level. NOW Corp and NOW Telecom were the first to introduce 5G broadband speed of up to 2Gbps direct to our existing enterprise clients. Our next move is to extend the said service to the residential and consumer markets,” NOW Group of Companies founder and Chief Executive Officer Mel V. Velarde earlier said.

NOW Telecom previously held off its third telco bid as it questioned the selection process.

NOW CORP shares jump nearly 30% in morning trade after regulators extend its provisional authority to install, operate and maintain nationwide mobile telecommunications system @ANCALERTS

— Michelle Krystle Ong (@michelle_d_ong) September 21, 2020

Shares of NOW Corp jumped 49.79 percent at 3.58 a piece in Monday morning trade, from its previous close of 2.39.

-- with a report from Michelle Ong, ABS-CBN News