NTC limits text, calls of cellphone firms

Unlimited text and call services being offered by cellular companies will now be limited to certain hours of the day or during off-peak hours to avoid network congestion.

National Telecommunications Commission chief Ronald Solis said unlimited service may now be offered only during the off-peak hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. On the other hand, calls made during peak hours may automatically be terminated after five minutes by the operator if their desired drop call rate cannot be met.

Solis said that based on NTC findings, it is not feasible for companies to offer unlimited text and call services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without causing network congestion, especially during the peak hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The NTC has just issued a set of guidelines that will allow mobile phone companies to now set their own minimum service performance standards for their innovative price plans.

Sources disclosed that Smart Communications and Globe Telecom are seriously looking at appealing the guidelines which are contained in an NTC interlocutory order. While as a general rule, an interlocutory order which is issued in the course of the proceedings and does not decide on the merits of the case cannot be appealed, such an order can nevertheless be appealed on the ground of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction by the issuing court or body.

The operators are required to disclose these standards to the NTC and the public so that mobile subscribers would know what quality of service to expect.

The interim order was issued by the NTC pending the resolution of the administrative case filed by Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel) and Globe’s Innove Communications against Digital Mobile Phils. for its Sun Cellular 24/7 unlimited call and text promo. Piltel and Globe claim among others that Sun’s unlimited service fails the service performance standards for mobile telephone service set forth in NTC memorandum circular 07-06-2002.

The said circular required a grade of service (GOS) of seven percent or no more than seven out of every 100 connection attempts should fail, and the allowable drop call rate (DCR) is five percent, or no more than five out of every 100 calls to be prematurely terminated by the network.

However, Solis said the inflexible application of current performance standards at this time would deprive the consumers of their freedom to choose and would discourage healthy competition in the market.

These guidelines with disclosure and upgrade requirements, he pointed out, will give consumers an informed choice among the unlimited service plans and at the same time protect them from poor service performance.

Under the new guidelines, mobile phone companies shall indicate at what GOS and DCR they are offering their text and call services in all their advertisements in print, radio, or television in a form prescribed and approved by the NTC.

Solis said these companies, however, are expected to improve their service performance after a year by at least 50 percent of the difference between their self-imposed standards and the NTC standards. By the end of two years, they should be able to fully comply with the NTC standard even with their innovative price plans. In the meantime, they will be held accountable to their disclosed self-imposed standards.