NTC revenues to hit P3.6B, well above target

The National Telecommunications Commission is on track to beating its 12-month revenue goal, which would allow the NTC to remit more funds to help the national government rein in its budget shortfall this year. In a statement, the network regulator said it projects P3.6 billion in revenues for the year, higher than last year’s P2.9 billion. This is also higher than the NTC’s target of P3.1 billion in revenues for 2010. The NTC gets a budget of about P300 million a year but a pending proposal in Congress aims to give the regulator fiscal autonomy. “The NTC continues to pursue its mandate of regulating and supervising the telecommunications, broadcast and other related industries with revenues generated from the collection of fees from franchises, licenses, permits, applications, clearances, certifications, supervision and regulation and spectrum usage," the regulator said in a statement. In a report to the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), the NTC said as of the end of last month, it had already surpassed its 2010 income target which was set at P3.1 billion by the Department of Budget Management and the Department of Finance. Based on its latest tally, the NTC already exceeded its revenue target by more than P0.4 billion, with a total reported income-to-date of P3.558 billion. “The increase in revenue primarily came from the NTC’s concerted efforts to strictly enforce stakeholders’ compliance in remitting fees. The NTC was able to achieve the feat without having to increase or levy new fees," it said. The CICT said the increase in earnings, which will be remitted to government coffers, would help the Aquino administration allocate enough funds for vital social services. “It is indeed a welcome development for the NTC to exceed its revenue targets. I remain confident that NTC will continue its relentless efforts to perform beyond expectations once we see the figures for the year," CICT Commissioner Ivan Uy said. “Such revenues will help the Aquino administration in implementing its priority programs and we at the CICT family will continue to do our part in achieving such targets." — MRT/VS, GMANews.TV