Globe insists payments are up to date

Globe Telecom stressed yesterday that it is updated when it comes to payments of the required supervision and regulatory fees to the government, disputing reports that several telecommunications carriers have received demand letters from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Globe regulatory affairs head Froilan Castelo said the company has no outstanding overdue balance on supervision and regulatory fees from 1999 to 2003.

He clarified, however, that the NTC, as its normal practice, has issued to Globe its 2004 assessment for supervision and regulatory fees amounting to P159.65 million.

Castelo said that in accordance with the Public Service Law, this is due to be paid on Sept. 30, 2004 and is therefore not yet overdue. Globe is currently validating the assessment.

Meanwhile, the NTC has accused Globe’s main rival Smart Communications of arrears worth about P1 billion in unpaid fees. According to the commission, Smart owes about P100 million while its subsidiary Pilipino Telephone Inc. (Piltel) has an outstanding balance of about P900 million.

However, Smart legal affairs head Rogelio Quevedo told The STAR that is the NTC which owes Smart and Piltel about P600 million in overpayment of government regulatory and supervisory fees as of last year.

Last year, Smart and Piltel filed a case against NTC with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for refund and credit of overpaid regulatory and supervisory fees amounting to P600 million. The case is still pending in the sala of QC RTC Judge Ofelia Arellano Marquez.

The two mobile phone firms also initiated last year an administrative case with the NTC on the matter. Quevedo said that despite six motions to resolve the cases filed by Smart, the NTC refused budge.

The NTC claims that Smart and Piltel owe the commission about P1 billion in outstanding fees regulatory and licensing fees, some dating back to 1999. NTC commissioner Ronald Solis said they are sending a collection letter very soon.

Quevedo, for his part, told The STAR that the NTC’s common carriers accreditation department headed by Edgardo Cabarios has been incorrectly computing the NTC circular on the computation of fees.

Smart said NTC assessed its fees according to the number of channels or time slots of its GSM stations, when in fact the SUF had already been computed based on the same number of channels.

Cabarios said the NTC computation is that one GSM [global system for mobile communications] station is equivalent to eight time slots, which is equivalent to one channel. NTC’s computation is based on the number of channels, and not on the number of stations, he pointed out.

Telecommunication firms pay four types of fees with NTC. These are the SRF, computed as 50 centavos for every P100 paid-up capital; a permit fee of 50 centavos for every P100 increase in authorized capital or for every increase in cost of investment; the RLF; and the SUF.