Globe, Bayan scrap Bicol interconnection charges

Subscribers of Globe Telecom Inc. and Bayan Telecommunications Inc. in Albay and in Camarines Sur no longer have to pay interconnection charges when calling one network line to another. Ayala-led Globe and Lopez-owned Bayan signed a deal, which took effect on June 16, scrapping the interconnection charges, Globe said in a statement Tuesday. The deal with Bayan would allow Globe to sell its landline telephony and broadband internet services to residents in those provinces. Globe is now in the process of rolling out its network services in Albay and in Camarines Sur. The interconnection deal gives customers of Globe subsidiary Globelines and Bayan "to call one another without any additional fee," Globe regulatory affairs head Froilan Castelo said. “As these will now be considered local calls, the people in the area stand to benefit by saving on long distance charges that they used to pay before in making calls from one provider to the other. Our Globelines customers can simply dial the seven-digit telephone number to connect with the other service provider," he said. The Bicol region is one of Bayan's six major markets, apart from Metro Manila, Eastern Visayas and Iloilo, Davao and General Santos, Butuan and Cagayan de Oro. “Globe is open to negotiations with other telecom service providers including local telephone companies to help bring universal access and a fully integrated telecommunications network to customers nationwide," Castelo said. Republic Act 7925 gives the National Telecommunications Commission the mandate to order the compulsory interconnection of public telecommunications carriers to create a universally accessible and fully integrated nationwide telecommunications network. —VS, GMANews.TV