Cellphone firms buck plea on text cut

The country’s four leading cellular phone companies filed separate motions yesterday to dismiss a petition filed by a group of mobile phone owners to permanently stop the planned reduction in free text message allocations.

Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Pilipino Telephone Inc. (Piltel), and Isla Communications (Islacom) formally opposed yesterday the petition filed by consumer group Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications Inc. (PLDTi) for a writ of preliminary injunction preventing cellular phone companies from implementing a plan to reduce free text allocations for its subscribers, saying that the court has no jurisdiction over the case.

Smart legal counsel Rogelio Quevedo argued that the petition filed by PLDTi properly belongs to the jurisdiction of the National Telecommunications Commission and not the Quezon City regional trial court.

"The plaintiffs have not filed any complaint with the NTC and have thus failed to exhaust administrative remedies prior to seeking a TRO from QC RTC," Quevedo said.

PLDTi filed a petition for the issuance of a TRO last Aug. 29 against the four cellular phone companies and the NTC to prevent the operators from implementing the reduction in free text allocation for GSM subscribers.

On Aug. 30, the four companies announced that they were staggering the implementation of the 67-percent reduction in free text allocations. Smart and Piltel were supposed to implement only one third of the originally planned cut this month (Sept. 3 for Piltel and Sept. 10 for Smart) and the balance in January next year, while Globe and Islacom were going to implement one half on Sept. 10 for prepaid subscribers and Oct. 1 for postpaid subscribers and the balance in January next year.

But even before the staggered cut was to be implemented, QC RTC Judge Modesto Juanson issued the TRO on Aug. 31.

Quevedo noted that should the NTC fail to act on, or rule against their petition, then the proper remedy in accordance with the Rules of Court would be for the plaintiffs to raise the matter to the Court of Appeals.

NTC common carriers authorization division head Edgardo Cabarrios revealed that the commission was already considering issuing an order that would ‘freeze’ the implementation of the planned free text allocation reduction, until such time that the investigation by the NTC as to whether or not there was collusion among the four cellular companies is finished. "But even before the NTC could issue its own order, the TRO was handed down by the court," Cabarrios said.

Piltel also submitted a similar motion reiterating the argument that the case properly belongs to the jurisdiction of the NTC.

Piltel added that PLDTi had dragged the former into the case despite their knowledge that the company has no involvement in their complaints against Smart and Globe, noting that none of the complainants was a Piltel subscriber.

Globe Telecom, in a separate petition, also cited the court’s lack of jurisdiction and sought the dismissal of the complaint and the lifting of the Aug. 31 TRO. Subsidiary Isla Communications, likewise, filed a similar petition.

Globe counsels Rodolfo Salalima and Froilan Castelo argued that it is the NTC’s responsibility to "protect consumers against misuse of a telecommunications entity’s monopoly or quasi-monopolistic powers, but not limited to, the investigation of complaints and exacting compliance with service standards from such entity," as provided for under Republic Act No. 7925.

They also pointed out that the NTC has been vested by RA 7925 with the residual power either to regulate or deregulate a telecom service or rates if the service has sufficient competition to ensure fair and reasonable rates or tariff.

"Since the plaintiffs argue that the defendants conspired and colluded, then it is now up for the NTC and not this court to determine whether there is sufficient or free competition to ensure fair and reasonable rates," they said.