NTC to issue new circular prohibiting text spam

MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to issue early next week a new circular that will prohibit the sending to mobile phone subscribers of text messages that advertise products and services, without the express permission of the subscriber.

After issuing on Friday a memorandum circular extending the validity of prepaid credits, NTC commissioner Ruel Canobas told the STAR that the next circular would govern text spam. “It will be out early next week,” he said.

The circular aims to protect mobile subscribers from spam messaging, specifically those sent by content providers who advertise their products and services via text message.

Canobas earlier said under an existing rule, content providers are only allowed to send to a subscriber one free promotional text. The subscriber can opt to avail of the service by responding to the text but if no response from the subscriber is received by the content provider, this means the subscriber is not interested.

However, members of the Senate have called the NTC’s attention to the fact that subscribers are being barraged by too many promotional text messages.

The new circular will now prohibit content providers and even telcos from using text messages as a means of promoting new products and services. “They will have to use other forms of advertising such as newspapers, TV, or radio to promote their services. Right now, subscribers are receiving all these messages even without their consent,” Canobas emphasized.

Amidst a Senate inquiry into mobile phone services, the NTC has said it will issue at least five new circulars aimed at reducing the cost of and improving the quality of cellular phone services in the country.

Aside from the extension of the validity of prepaid loads and the regulation of text spams, the NTC also plans to issue soon a circular will impose a cap on the voice and text messaging interconnection rates being charged by telcos to one another, the benefits of which will be passed on to consumers in terms of lower mobile call and text rates.

As planned, from the current P4 interconnection rate per call, this will have to be reduced to P2.50, then to P2 and further to P1. The reductions are made at intervals of every two years.

Meanwhile, from the 35 centavo per text interconnection rate, this will go down to 25, 20 and 15 centavos also in two-year intervals.

“But since what we will be imposing are ceilings, the telcos can always agree on lower rates,” Canobas said. Interconnection charges are imposed by telcos only on calls or text messages that land on their network from other telcos. On-net calls and texts or those made by subscribers belonging to the same telco network have no interconnection charges (i.e. a call from one Globe user to another).

Another circular calls for a change in the current method of billing mobile calls, from the present per minute charge to per six-second and three-second charging. At present, calls are charged the full rate although the call is for just a few seconds. Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, however, offer on a promotional basis per second charging (10 centavos per second) but only for on-net calls.

NTC issued a circular many years back that called for a per six second charging of mobile voice calls but the commission received a permanent injunction from the courts.

“We will not reissue that portion of the circular on the six-second pulse rate because we might be the subject of contempt proceedings by the court. The scheme will be different this time and we do not expect much opposition from the telcos,” an NTC official said.

The plan is for the first six seconds to be charged a certain rate, after which the duration will be cut to three seconds for the succeeding time consumed per call.

Also being mulled is a circular that will cover the revenue-sharing agreement between telcos and content providers. At present, it is 70–30 in favor of the content providers. As planned, the sharing scheme will have to be cost-oriented.