NTC sets benchmarking for broadband service

MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to roll out the benchmarking of the broadband services of telecommunication providers led by dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc.

NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said the regulator is seeking a P15.5 million appropriation for the 2015 budget to be able to buy a benchmarking equipment as well as vehicle for the broadband service of telecom providers.

The benchmarking would help determine the quality of broadband service being delivered by telecom providers to their subscribers, he said.

The NTC used to conduct benchmarking test for the voice calls as well as short messaging system (SMS) or text messages offered by PLDT’s Smart Communications and Ayala’s Globe.

The NTC has been conducting Quality of Service Benchmarking tests for voice calls and SMS to ensure that telecom companies provide better service to their subscribers. 

Parameters include the blocked calls or grade of service, dropped calls, average signal level, and call set up time.

The agency is pushing for a legislation that would identify broadband service as a basic service so that the government could regulate it.

Cordoba said the broadband service could not be regulated by NTC because it is classified as a value added service (VAS) under RA 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino, chair of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, said in a hearing last week that making broadband a basic service would allow the NTC to regulate it by imposing standards on speed as well as pricing.

The regulator is now drafting a circular setting the minimum standards such as speed of broadband offerings.

The circular being prepared by NTC would also require telecom providers to remove or clarify terms such as “unlimited” or “up to” with regard to speed and size of data offered.

Aquino earlier filed Senate Resolution 620 declaring that the slow and expensive Internet connection is adversely affecting the ease of doing business in the Philippines.