Smart’s latest winner

The marketing strategist of Smart and Talk N’ Text, Boy Martirez has come out with a winner of a service, the new Pasaload. It allows Smart and Talk N’ Text subscribers to pass a P10 load to each other. It’s unique and handy especially during emergencies when you find yourself without load all of a sudden.

On its first few days after launch, nearly a million "passes" were made earning Smart and Talk N’ Text a hefty sum for the new service. Needless to say, it must have "saved" cell phone fanatics who needed an emergency load, quick and fast. As far as I know, only Smart has introduced this unique service anywhere in the world. And the service is so simple to use.

Unfortunately, the instant success of Pasa-load has been turned into some sort of a scam by some unscrupulous subscribers. They con other subscribers to pass the load to their cell phone. So beware of unauthorized text gimmicks and make sure to just pass on the P10 load to people you know.

A major irritant

War is about to erupt between government and the private telecommunications sector.

Highly placed sources revealed that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is all set to cancel the authority to operate of certain telecom entities, like Pilipino Telephone Inc. (Piltel) and Capitol Wireless (Capwire) due to mounting unpaid supervision regulatory fees.

Such fees have always been a source of conflict in the telecommunications industry, especially since telecom companies find the computation of fees unreasonable. Mind you, it’s based on capitalization, not revenues. (Something like one-fourth or one-half of one’s capitalization?) It does not care whether a company is making money or not. It has become a major irritant, with telecom entities shuttling back and forth the courts in order to have the basis of computation revised.

VoIP rules

The National Telecommunications Commission is currently circulating a draft memorandum circular that will regulate the use of voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP.

VoIP is a voice service utilizing IP technology. Through VoIP, one can make a call abroad using a computer. The quality of call will depend though on the bandwidth. According to the NTC, pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations companies, intending to offer voice service shall secure franchise from Congress and specific authorization from the NTC. Companies authorized to provide international voice service are mandated to install at least 300,000 local exchange lines in unserved and undeserved areas.

Companies allowed to offer voice over IP are those that are duly enfranchised and were granted authorizations to provide voice service such as local telephone service carriers, national long distance telephone service carriers, international long distance telephone service carriers, etc.

For the next few years thefore, only infra-base carriers, therefore will be allowed to offer VoIP. This is reasonable, considering that the carriers will be the ones who will be losing revenues from international calls if certain Internet service providers engage in this business themselves.

Telecom standards

Telecom standards Here’s more news from the NTC.

The commission has just released a new circular calling for the creation of certain groups that will develop technical regulations and standards for telecommunications equipment. What’s interesting is that one group will deal with mobile phone standards (are cellular phones safe to use?)

In the development and setting of technical standards, they will have to consider health and safety aspect particularly to the user and the employees of telecom entities, the effective use of the spectrum allocated to terrestrial/space radio communication so that radio equipment will not cause harmful interference, among others.

Bits and pieces

How true are reports from the grapevine that NTC commissioner Armi Jane Borje is resigning very soon to run for a local government position in her home province? Probably true considering that she accepted the position of NTC chief on the condition that she will stay there only up to December of this year. Commissioner Borje after all comes from a political family.

Employees of Smart Communications are having a very happy celebration of the holidays. After all, they got up to 20 months salary this year compared to PLDT employees who got up to 14 months. This is one of the reasons why the PLDT employees‚ union is fuming mad. They are claiming that had PLDT not bought Smart, then Smart would not be making as much money. Huh?

PLDT share prices have just reached P980 and we cannot see any reason why it should not breach the P1,000 mark in the next few weeks. Sources say PLDT president Manny Pangilinan is confident that it will reach as high as P1,300 per share.

"Please ask your readers to send their written ideas on the voice over internet protocol technology to the National Telecommunications Commission. Please let them know about the level and grade of service on their telecommunications service and connections. Our consumers are not protected despite having a consumer code of over 10 years. We need to speak out."– Adrian Sison, consumer advocate and telecommunications lawyer

Hidden Agenda can be reached at [email protected]