MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Globe Telecom Inc. are expanding their interconnection links in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Zambales, and Misamis Occidental by the end of the year.
“Our subscribers in [those provinces] will soon be able to call their friends, family members, and business associates within their provinces anytime, without worrying about long distance charges,” PLDT spokesperson Ramon Isberto said.
Prior to the interconnection arrangement, landline customers of both PLDT and Globelines are charged with long distance rate when making phone calls to one another.
The additional provinces covered by interconnection have PLDT business offices that serve walk-in telephone line applicants; install and repair lines; accept bills payment; service report repairs; and address billing concerns. PLDT offers voice, video, and data or triple play services on a single Internet protocol (IP) platform.
Globe and PLDT are already interconnected in Metro Manila and the provinces of Batangas, Benguet, Bohol, Bulacan, Capiz, Cavite, Cebu, Davao Del Norte, South Cotabato, Iloilo, La Union, Laguna, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Quezon, Tarlac, and Zamboanga.
The telecommunications giants also inked an interconnection pact in August covering Albay.
Republic Act No. 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act mandates the compulsory interconnection of authorized public telecommunications carriers to create a universally accessible and fully integrated nationwide telecommunications network.
The law also pushes for more infrastructure investments from the private sector to benefit the consumers. – Rappler.com
Network and power cables image from Shutterstock
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