Globe, PLDT link up landline subscribers in Daval del Norte

MANILA, Philippines - Rivals Globe Telecom Inc. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) have activated local interconnection in Davao del Norte allowing subscribers of both service providers to call each other without additional charges.

Froilan Castelo, head of corporate and legal services group of Globe, said the local interconnection between the landline service of Globe and PLDT would allow customers to realize substantial savings as they no longer have to pay for long distance charges when calling one another.

Prior to the commercial activation of the interconnection, landline customers of both Globe and PLDT were charged with long distance rate amounting to P5 per minute.

With the commercial availability of the interconnection, Globe subscribers could simply dial the seven-digit telephone number to connect with PLDT and vice-versa.

“We are delighted to announce that through collaboration and cooperation with competition, the company’s subscribers will have greater access to telecommunications and vice-versa. We are hoping that we will able to establish the same kind of collaboration in other areas of the country,” Castelo stressed.

He pointed out that the cooperation between Globe and PLDT is in line with the compulsory interconnection of authorized public telecommunications carriers under RA 7925.

Under the law, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) mandates compulsory interconnection of authorized public telecommunications carriers to create a universally accessible and fully integrated nationwide telecommunications network to encourage more infrastructure investments from the private sector that would benefit the consumers.

Globe and PLDT activated local interconnection in Metro Manila, Cavite, Iloilo, Capiz, Batangas, Cebu, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Leyte, Davao City, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zamboanga, Laguna, Quezon, La Union, Nueva Ecija, and Benguet, General Santos or South Cotabato, and Tarlac.

Castelo said Globe and PLDT are also working on similar arrangements in Pangasinan, Zambales, Davao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, and Ilocos Norte.

Globe earlier pledged its full support and commitment to NTC to activate interconnection in more areas nationwide to protect consumer welfare and spur continued growth of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in the country.