Telco war

Arch rivals Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom are once again engaged in a legal tussle, this time over who has the right to provide telecommunications services inside Fort Bonifacio.

PLDT claims exclusivity over the area following an agreement with Bonifacio Communications Corp. (BCC) that gave the former the sole right to operate in the area.

However, a 2002 circular of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has declared IT hubs including Fort Bonifacio Global City as free zones such that any duly enfranchised public telco entities can provide high-speed networks and connectivity in said areas.

In April, the Department of Justice ruled that the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) is a “free zone” and all telecom companies can operate in the area after the NTC requested for a legal opinion on PLDT’s exclusivity in the area.

Inspite of this, PLDT wants Globe’s existing facilities removed from the BGC. This prompted Globe to ask the NTC to issue a cease and desist order against PLDT, the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. (FBDC) and BCC.

Globe also wants NTC to order BCC and PLDT to remove their devices and installations which intercept vacant cable entrance facilities or hog them to the exclusion of other carriers.

This time, PLDT went to the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City asking the court to declare the NTC circular as null and void and to prevent the regulatory body from acting on Globe/Innove’s complaint.

As expected, Innove, through Globe chief legal counsel Rudy Salalima, asked the RTC to dismiss PLDT’s complaint. 

In its position paper filed with the RTC, Innove pointed out that if the court enjoins NTC from taking cognizance of the Innove complaint, it will be worse than a dismissal of the said complain with the NTC since Innove’s right to the reliefs prayed for in its NTC complaint will not be considered, much less heard at all and in effect denied by non-action without Innove being afforded any relief from such non-action. 

Innove also noted that such injunctive relief should not be granted to PLDT because the RTC lacks jurisdiction over the said complaint. It explained that since the Innove complaint was filed with the NTC ahead of PLDT’s filing with the RTC, primary jurisdiction over the issues involved in both the Innove complaint with the NTC and the PLDT case with the RTC is lodged exclusively with the NTC to the exclusion of the court, under the doctrine of primary administrative jurisdiction.

Innove likewise accused PLDT of forum-shopping and splitting the latter’s cause of action, both prohibited by the Rules of Court, since the PLDT’s complaint is already a part of the Innove complaint with the NTC.

The company also stressed that Innove’s right and duty to provide telco services in Fort Bonifacio is not dependent on MC 05-05-2002 alone and therefore, the issues concerning the legality of the circular and NTC’s action on Innove’s complaint are exclusive of each other and should not have been made by PLDT to appear as if they depend on one another.

Innove noted that its right to operate in Fort Bonifacio has its basis in the Constitution itself which provides that “no franchise, certificate, or authorization shall be exclusive in character.”

Likewise, Republic Act no 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Act mandates free competition and speaks of every telco provider’s duty to provide public telco service to any applicant for the service wherever he may be.

It also stressed that Innove is authorized to provide telco service nationwide without exception.

Innove also claims PLDT’s willful resistance and acts to prevent Innove from rendering public telecommunications service in Fort Bonifacio, together with and in conspiracy with BCC, commencing with their illegal ‘exclusivity agreements’, constitutes a crime (monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade). 

The Globe subsidiary emphasized that PLDT cannot claim service exclusivity in Fort Bonifacio because the Constitution, RA 7025, and the country’s criminal laws so clearly prohibit.

The latest news we have received is that PLDT is willing to enter into an interconnection agreement with Innove to put an end once and for to this legal debacle. Basically, this means that Innove cannot offer its services directly inside the Global City but will have to use PLDT’s facilities to do that.

Let us see how Globe will react to this offer. A protracted legal battle of course will mean that Globe’s investments inside the Global City will have to wait. An early settlement, on the other hand, will mean Globe’s recognition of PLDT’s exclusive right to operate in the area.

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