NTC summons telcos on Internet connection speed

MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has summoned major players in the telecommunications industry to a public consultation on the minimum speed of broadband connections.

In a notice of public consultation and hearing, NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said the major shareholders should submit the proposed changes on or before Nov. 4.

Cordoba said the proposed amendments to the order on the minimum speed of broadband connections would be discussed in a public hearing scheduled on Nov. 7.

He pointed out that the proposed changes should contain the parameters to be measured as well as the methods and period of measurement.

Likewise, he added that the NTC and the major shareholders should agree on who would conduct the measurement as well as the methods of mediation and arbitration in case of disputes.

Subscribers have been complaining about the speed of broadband services in the Philippines amid the free and unlimited Internet as well as Facebook offered by major telecom providers.

Cordoba earlier said the NTC is set to roll out the benchmarking of the broadband services of telecommunication providers led by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc.

The regulator is seeking a P15.5 million appropriation for the 2015 budget to be able to buy a benchmarking equipment as well as vehicle for the broadband service of telecom providers.

The benchmarking would help determine the quality of broadband service being delivered by telecom providers to their subscribers, he said.

The NTC used to conduct benchmarking test for the voice calls as well as short messaging system (SMS) or text messages offered by PLDT’s Smart Communications and Ayala’s Globe.

The NTC has been conducting quality of service benchmarking tests for voice calls and SMS to ensure that telecom companies provide better service to their subscribers.

Parameters include the blocked calls or grade of service, dropped calls, average signal level, and call set up time.

The agency is pushing for a legislation that would identify broadband service as a basic service so that the government could regulate it.

Cordoba said the broadband service could not be regulated by NTC because it is classified as a value added service (VAS) under RA 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino, chair of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, said in a hearing last week that making broadband a basic service would allow the NTC to regulate it by imposing standards on speed as well as pricing.