NTC: Telcos with bad network service barred from signing new customers

Rappler.com

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As an official of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) faced senators who vented frustrations over poor network services and quality, he made a promise considered a first for the industry regulator

MANILA, Philippines – As an official of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) faced senators who vented frustrations over poor network services and quality, he made a promise considered a first for the industry regulator.

At the Senate finance committee hearing on Tuesday, September 25, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said the agency is studying the possibility of penalizing networks that fail to comply with standards.

This includes barring the telecommunication firms from signing new subscribers.
 
“If they do not perform at par with the quality of service mandated by the commission, they cannot get additional subscribers. [This is until they can] improve the grade of service,” Cordoba said.

Cordoba added that the measure would help ease network congestion, which the agency blames on the huge number of customers availing themselves of unlimited calls and text message services.

Senate finance committee chairman Franklin Drilon, who expressed his frustration at poor cellular network services, was not very hopeful about it.
 
“I’ll be clapping my hands if you’re able to do that. To be honest with you, I’m very pessimistic on whether you can impose that rule on telecom companies,” he said. “The service sucks, as the young would call it. The consumers suffer. In my view, there appears to be no regulation at all for the benefit of the public, given the kind of service that we are getting from these companies.”
 
Cordoba explained, however, that telecom companies are currently upgrading their networks. He said Smart has finished upgrading, while Globe is expected to complete its upgrade on the 1st quarter of 2013.
 
Economic impact

After the hearing, NTC Director Edgardo Cabarios told reporters that penalties that will be imposed on telecommunication firms with inefficient service will not be immediate.

Cabarios said they will still wait for the results of their monitoring of cellular networks for the 3rd quarter of 2012, which will be released at the end of September.

He said the NTC is studying the matter carefully, considering the possible economic consequences of prohibiting networks from getting more subscribers.
 
“Baka naman by this 3rd quarter of 4th quarter, mag-improve na ang kanilang network at ma-solve ang congestion,” Cabarios told reporters.
 
Based on the NTC’s standards, blocked calls or calls that could not get through must not exceed 4 times out of 100. Dropped calls, on the other hand, must be below 2 out of 100 times.
 
In the NTC’s 2nd quarter report, Globe had a blocked call rate of 4.45%, while Smart had 9.95%. In terms of dropped calls, both networks met the standard: Globe and Smart only had 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively.

The NTC officials were at the Senate for the deliberations on NTC’s proposed subsidy of P259.38 million under the 2013 national budget. – Rappler.com

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