Telecom firms oppose NTC plan to allow VoIP

Telecommunications companies are opposing a plan of government to allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a service as well as a technology that allows the transmission of voice communications via the Internet.

Globe senior vice president Rodolfo Salalima noted that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has no basis in allowing entities other than the duly enfranchised public telecommunications entities to offer VoIP.

He emphasized that Republic Act 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act is very clear that only those entities granted a franchise by Congress can offer telecommunications services. "No less than the NTC in a memorandum said that VoIP is telecommunications and, therefore, ISPs and other value-added service providers that do not have a congressional franchise cannot engage in telecommunications," Salalima said.

The NTC has just released a draft circular that will allow any person or entity to provide VoIP for use by the public for compensation provided that they first shall register with the commission prior to operation as a VoIP provider.

However, the commission requires a value-added service (VAS) provider proposing to offer VoIP services to the public for compensation to enter into an interconnection agreement with a network provider if such services require access to and/or use of a network provider’s network, facilities and/or equipment.

Salalima also stressed that the NTC has no basis in classifying VoIP as a value-added service (VAS) as was the position adopted by the ISPs, instead of as part of basic telephony as was the stand of the telcos.

The proposed circular defines VAS as enhanced services beyond those ordinarily provided for by local exchange and inter-exchange operators, and overseas carriers, where "ordinarily provided" services shall mean voice services offered through circuit switched networks.

"Before a service can be classified as VAS, there are two conditions that have to be met: First, that it is not ordinarily provided by the telcos; and second, that it is an enhanced service. The NTC has not justified in its proposed circular nor in its memorandum attached to the circular why VoIP is an enhanced service," Salalima said.

He noted that no less than the Supreme Court in a recent ruling pointed out that the NTC has yet to come up with a listing of which services are VAS and which are not, nor has the commission adopted a clear definition of what VAS is. "Unless the NTC really knows what VAS is, how can it possibly classify VoIP as VAS?" he added.

Telcos earlier warned that allowing other entities to offer VoIP will result in a demise of the local landline business. One form of VoIP known as Internet telephony allows a person to make an international call via a computer through the Internet, thereby avoiding using the network of telcos and paying long distance access charges.

Meanwhile, Sen. Mar Roxas, chairman of the bicameral Congressional Oversight Committee on the Electronic Commerce Law, welcomed the issuance by the NTC of a proposed circular that would pave the way for cheap voice calls over the Internet.

"The NTC draft memorandum is most welcome. It will force the resolution of the regulatory uncertainty that has hampered the commercialization of, and public access to, VOIP as an inexpensive alternative to conventional telephone calls," Roxas said.

"Telephone companies can challenge the validity of the NTC order later on, but at least the NTC has taken a position. We hope this move will eventually lead to a more definitive interpretation of the law," Roxas added.