Globe Telecom asks NTC to fasttrack renewal of its provisional authority

Globe Telecom has asked the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to fasttrack the renewal of its provisional authority to engage in the mobile phone business which expired last September.

The STAR learned that even before the PA expired, Globe had already requested NTC for an extension, but the commission put this on hold pending inspection of the company’s network.

A Globe official explained that while the PA is a continuing authority, which means that it is valid until revoked, non-renewal poses problems. "In this business, all your permits have to be in order or you will have problems," the official said.

The original PA is good for 18 months while any extension or renewal is for a maximum of 18 months, subject to another renewal or extension. But the NTC appears not inclined to grant the extension yet. NTC Commissioner Joseph Santiago said in an interview that the commission is planning to impose some conditionalities on Globe before renewing its PA.

Santiago said one of these conditions is for the company to desist from getting new subscribers for a period of two months as a penalty for having exceeded its capacity last July.

The NTC requested Globe last Dec. 6 to voluntarily stop accepting new subscribers for a maximum of two months, in line with a recommendation from the commission’s common carriers authorization department (CCAD) which found the company’s network to have been oversubscribed by 235,109 subscribers during an investigation conducted in July-August.

However, Globe Telecom refused to accede to the NTC request and questioned the basis for the findings, saying they were unfair and unconstitutional.

The Globe official added that the only conditionality that was attached to the original PA granted by NTC was that the company should be able to cover 80 percent of all provincial capitals and chartered cities. "But we have already covered 100 percent. Any additional conditionality which NTC will attach to the extension of our PA will be questionable," the official said.

The official also pointed out that the renewal of the PA every 18 months is too short and inconvenient, especially since the NTC is always delayed in renewing it.