Smart, BayanTel make up

Callers from a Smart cellular phone to a BayanTel line and vice-versa can look forward to a more efficient interconnection between the two after they agreed to amicably settle their differences and proceed with the signing of an amended interconnection agreement.

Bayan Telecommunications (BayanTel) said that it is no longer pursuing its planned administrative complaint against Smart after the latter promised to immediately restore to full commercial PO1 grade of service the interconnection links between Smart’s cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) and BayanTel’s local exchange carrier (LEC).

Smart reportedly also agreed to allow uninterrupted termination of all calls originating from BayanTel’s LEC network to Smart’s CMTS network.

This is part of a compromise agreement signed a few days ago between Smart legal and carrier relations head Roger Quevedo and BayanTel chief financial officer Gary Olivar.

Under the agreement, the two companies agreed to settle payables in connection with traffic running from Smart’s CMTS to BayanTel’s LEC network up to the period ending February 2001. This includes the offsetting of lease line rentals payable by Smart to BayanTel against traffic settlement payables by BayanTel to Smart.

Smart and BayanTel also agreed to reduce the settlement rate effective Aug. 1, 2001 and Jan. 1, 2001. The signing was witnessed yesterday by National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) chief Eliseo Rio, who earlier urged the two parties to settle their dispute amicably.

Smart is the first company to which BayanTel agreed to reduce the settlement rate. But BayanTel officials said the signing of amended interconnection agreements with other carriers will follow suit. The second agreement will be that between BayanTel and Globe.

All other carriers are now interconnected with one another, following a wholesale signing recently between most of the carriers, including Smart, Globe, PLDT, Digitel, Islacom, and Piltel as well as rural telephone companies.

Earlier, Smart blamed technical problems in its network for the failure to call from a BayanTel landline to a Smart cellular phone. BayanTel officials, however, expressed surprise why calls from a Smart phone to a BayanTel landline and running on the same interconnection links, were terminating efficiently without any technical problems.

Notwithstanding the congestion, BayanTel has been paying about P5 million a month to Smart since last year. – Mary Ann Reyes