Biz groups back NTC ruling on VoIP

Two of the nation’s leading business organizations have expressed their support to the decision made by the government that telephone calls made via the Internet are not within the franchises of telecommunications companies.

Endorsing the new rules were the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport). PCCI is the largest business association in the country with chapters in all provinces and cities. Philexport is the umbrella organization of exporters.

The decision was recently handed out by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to resolve a conflict between Internet service providers and the established telephone companies led by the Philippine Long Distance Co. (PLDT) over who should be allowed to use the new technology.

The NTC ruled that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that makes possible telephone conversations through the internet which is much cheaper than the old system used by most landline telephone companies in the Philippines, is a new, value-added service. As such, it is not covered by the franchises given the telcos before it was put into popular use.

In the words of the NTC memorandum conveying the decision: "The traditional voice regulations and licensing requirements should not apply to VoIP."

NTC also issued draft rules on VoIP for public consultations, saying that "regulatory clarity is now a necessary precondition if meaningful investment and innovation in, and public access to and use of, VoIP is to grow." The draft rules require registration, but not licensing, of VoIP providers and sets arrangements for access and interconnection charges under conditions of "fair and equitable competition."

"We commend the NTC for its forward-looking policy that will allow Filipinos to enjoy the full promise and potential of new technologies," said PCCI president Donald Dee and Philexport president Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. in an interview with Philexport News & Features.

They said the new ruling is bound to cut down the cost of overseas telephone calls from the present rate of about 40 US cents per minute to as low as 10 US cents for individual callers, and even much cheaper for call centers.

The new policy is bound to further bolster gains the country has gotten from the telecommunication industry’s liberalization in the early 90s, the business leaders added.

They pointed out that from less than one million landline telephones and practically zero mobile phones in 1992, the industry has grown to three million landlines and 30 million mobile phone subscribers.

Cheaper telephone rates, besides encouraging more households and businesses to apply for new lines, will surely bolster the country’s access to trade partners across the globe and greatly boost our international trade, the business leaders said.

The ruling, they added, "will also fuel the growth of the country’s rapidly growing call centers and related IT-based industries and give us a better chance in winning our bid of making the Philippines the call center capital of the world."