Globe backs NTC's proposed access charge reduction

Telecommunications firm Globe Telecom Inc. has formally registered its support for the National Telecommunications Commission's proposed reduction of access charges for voice and text messages, but insisted on implementing a six-month reprieve before full implementation. In a position paper filed before the regulator, Globe proposed a three-year "glide path" which will begin on January 31, 2012. This 180-day deferred implementation will allow telecom firms to restructure their business plans and help cushion possible revenue losses, Globe said. "Globe is in full support of NTC’s call to lower domestic interconnect rates among telcos. In fact, Globe also supports mobile to landline interconnection and vice versa, where interconnection fees should also be reduced," said lawyer Froilan Castelo, head for corporate and legal services group of Globe. Under Globe's proposal, interconnection charges for voice calls is pegged at P2.50 on the first year, P2.00 on the second year and P1.50 on the third year. In contrast, the NTC proposes a P4.00 to P1.00 reduction in voice call interconnection charges in the course of three years. For text messages, meanwhile, Globe proposes a reduction pace of P0.25 for the first year, P0.20 for the second year and P0.15 for the third year, consistent with the NTC's proposal. Compared with voice termination rates in the Asia Pacific region ranging from only $0.03 to $0.05, the Philippines' voice and text message tariff rates remain palpably high. Globe had earlier proposed the inclusion of landline calls into the access-charge reduction, which would ensure that Filipinos would get lowered rates domestically. "If indeed the government would want to see domestic rates go down, interconnection rates (for landline) should go down as well," Castelo said. In an earlier NTC hearing, Globe chief competitors Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), operator of Smart Communications Inc., and Digital Telecommunciations Phillipines Inc. (Digitel) agreed in principle to the proposal, but had some reservations. PLDT had asked the commission to reconsider the proposed rates on interconnection charges, while Digitel had called on the regulator to look at international call access charges as well. — TJD, GMA News