Globe, AT&T reach accord on rates

After months of negotiations, Globe Telecom and US carrier AT&T have reached a termination rate agreement for US-Philippine traffic.

Globe head of carrier services Gil B. Genio said that the termination rate agreement normalizes the relationship between the parties, subject to the lifting of the stop-payment order earlier issued by the International Bureau of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

It will be recalled that the US FCC issued an order last March 10, 2003, prohibiting US carriers from paying Philippine carriers on the basis of a petition brought by US carrier AT&T alleging that Philippine carriers had "whipsawed" US carriers when the Philippine carriers raised the termination rates to all their interconnect parties throughout the world.

Termination rates are the fees charged by Philippine carriers to their foreign counterparts for terminating calls to the Smart Philippines through their gateways. AT&T’s petition was filed in opposition to the local carriers‚ negotiating position of charging 12 cents per minute for calls terminating to landlines and 16 cents per minute for calls terminating to mobile phones.

US carriers resisted the increase and filed petitions with the FCC. The Philippines‚ National Telecommunications Commission subsequently upheld these Philippine termination rates.

Genio added that he hopes the conclusion of these termination rate agreements will pave the way for the US FCC to ultimately lift its stop-payment order and end the long-drawn dispute with US carriers that began almost a year ago.