Consumer group TXTPower wants telco franchises scrapped

Consumer group TXTPower has asked the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to punish telecommunication firms for failing to comply with a new billing scheme for mobile phone calls. In a statement, the group asked the NTC to suspend the franchises of Globe Telecom, Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. mobile unit Smart Communications, Inc., and Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. the subsidiary of Gokongwei-led Digital Telecommunications Phils, Inc. that operates Sun Cellular. "We ask the NTC to itself follow Republic Act 7925 which empowers the commission to determine rates by telcos. The NTC must act as a regulator and not allow itself to be used like a doormat by the abusive telcos. It should penalize the telcos for flagrantly violating its circular," TXTPower President Tonyo Cruz said in the statement. Regulators have scored telecommunication companies for not complying with the six-second-per-pulse billing system which would lower the prices of cellular phone voice calls by allowing cellphone users to pay only for the minutes they have consumed. It was to be implemented as the default billing scheme beginning Dec. 6 for all mobile phone calls within the same network and Dec.16 for interconnection calls or calls between different networks. Under the NTC order, a flag down rate of not more than P3.00 for the first 12 seconds or two pulses should be charged to subscribers. 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. Under the NTC order, charges for calls should not exceed P7.50 per minute, the highest prevailing rate among telcos. Telecommunication companies however did not comply with the order to change the default billing system. Both Globe Telecom and Smart Communications still ask subscribers to use "prefixes" before availing themselves of the service. Sun Cellular admitted last week that it has been unable to comply with the order at all. Prefixes involve changing the first few digits of the phone number being called. A cease and desist order was issued by the NTC last week to prevent telcos from charging users per minute as the default billing scheme. The NTC and representatives of telecommunication companies could not be reached for a comment. Cruz said "per-pulse billing must be implemented immediately for the benefit of consumers." He also asked Congress, to consider suspending franchises of the telcos. A Senate hearing has been set for today regarding the noncompliance of telecommunication companies with the per-pulse scheme. Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. — Emilia Narni J. David, BusinessWorld