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Globe, Smart told to explain noncompliance with per-pulse billing


Claiming “technical difficulties," telecommunication firms have yet to comply with an order to switch to a new billing system for mobile phone calls starting Sunday, but regulators are not about to impose sanctions. Instead of charging every six seconds by default, telcos are requiring subscribers to use “prefixes" first. Douglas Michael N. Malilin, deputy commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) told BusinessWorld regulators would first meet with the telcos over their non-compliance with the default charging rule of the new per-pulse billing system. “Telecommunication companies said there are some technical problems with their systems, which is why they are not able to comply with the per-pulse billing. Our concern is that the companies are not using the new billing rate as the default and users need to enter a prefix before calling," said Mr. Malilin. “There would be no penalties until we find out the reason for non-compliance." Globe Telecom, Inc. and Smart Communications, Inc. are both requiring customers to enter a prefix to avail themselves of a per-pulse or per-second billing scheme, he said. On Saturday, the NTC issued the new billing rules for cellphone voice calls within the same network. Calls within the same network would be charged based on time consumed instead of by the minute. A “flag-down" rate of not more than P3.00 for the first 12 seconds or two pulses will be charged to the caller. In the first minute, each succeeding six-second pulse will be charged up to P0.56. Every pulse in the succeeding minutes will be charged up to P0.75. Charges for calls should not exceed P7.50 per minute, the highest prevailing rate among telcos. The NTC had said service providers that do not follow the default billing rule may be penalized, such as by revoking their licenses. Globe Telecom President Ernest L. Cu said his firm was complying with the order in a different manner. “Our 232 prefix is our way of complying for now. We had issues with the timing of the announcement because there was little time for us to adjust our system accordingly. We will however comply with the ruling soon. We just have to adjust our system," said Mr. Cu. Globe Telecom’s “232" prefix charges calls at P0.10 per second. Ramon R. Isberto, Smart Communications spokesman, also said the prefix was a stopgap measure. “[Using prefixes] is the way we have to implement the billing right now. We would also be making announcements soon on how users can avail [themselves] of the service. Admittedly it would take some time before users are fully aware of the prefix service," said Mr. Isberto. Smart Communications, the mobile unit of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co., will seek clarification on the use of prefixes as the company had understood prefixes to be “options that companies could take to implement the service," he added. Mr. Malilin said that before imposing penalties, telcos would be required to explain. The new billing scheme took effect Sunday only for calls within the same mobile phone network. The per-pulse charging scheme should be implemented for all calls between networks by Dec. 16. Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, has a minor stake in BusinessWorld.

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