NTC to implement link-up guidelines in first half of '99

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to implement within the first half of the year the long-delayed revised guidelines governing interconnection among networks of various carriers.

This was the assurance given by NTC Commissioner Joseph Santiago during the Telecom cluster meeting.

The regulatory body recently conducted a workshop where it drafted the revised interconnection implementing rules and regulations (IRR) in an attempt to minimize disputes among the different parties involved.

The move was also in response to the provisions of Executive Order 59 for mandatory network link-up to ensure universal access to communications.

Without such an arrangement, networks will become virtual intercom system where subscribers of another company will not be able to call customers of another firm.

Santiago said that the draft IRR which was presented to the carriers for comment, only briefly touched on the commercial aspects of the undertaking but focused primarily on the technical and physical requirements. Details of the IRR are yet to be released.

He stressed that it is the NTC's policy to physically interconnect the networks first before commercial negotiations involving fees and other charges are completed.

The NTC had attempted to complete the IRR as early as May last year, but constant objections and recommendations from the telecom firms involved have caused several revisions.

Before NTC could come up with the IRR, it had to consult with the international gateway facility (IGF) operators, mobile phone providers and local exchange carriers, among others.

But while the IRR is pending, the NTC had been faced with a number of interconnection problems, notably, the cases of Globe Telecom and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Smart Communications Inc. and Nextel of Infocom Communications Network Inc.

There are still some unresolved interconnection issues among the small provincial operators.

On the other hand, carriers have been accusing the government of failing to address basic structural issues which hinder fair, adequate and efficient interconnection of telecom services despite the existence of numerous legislation on telecommunications.

Globe, for instance, noted that the NTC was unable to create a level playing field, thereby, allowing PLDT to continue asserting its dominance in the field.

Globe pointed out that the NTC failed to provide adequate regulatory response to the declining international toll rates which significantly affect the carriers' revenue collection and has yet to act on the rate rebalancing applications of the new players which are expected to help offset the declining revenue from international calls.

Such structural issues, Globe said, conspire to make adequate interconnection difficult, to make interconnection expensive and to leave the carriers no choice but to recover the costs from the subscribers through high tariffs.