Negros Oriental Interconnection of 3 telcos sought

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – A non-government organization based in Negros Oriental advocating consumer rights has pushed for the interconnection of three telecommunication companies operating in this city and in other parts of the province.

The Consumers Advocates, Inc. (CAI) wrote Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba of the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) informing him the three telecommunications companies—Cruztelco, Globe (Innove) and PLDT—have not been fully interconnected, contending that such “is contrary to rulings of the NTC.”

Linda Basmayor, president of the CAI, said in the letter that her group noted that while Cruztelco and Globe were interconnected in February 2001, a number of problems on interconnection with PLDT have been found.

The group alleged that when a Cruztelco subscriber makes a call to a PLDT user, long distance charges apply and that person has to key in the area code “035,” which is assigned for Negros Oriental.

On the other hand, calls made from PLDT or Globe to the other two service providers are free of long distance charges, the CAI said.

CAI further said that being charged for direct dialing services by Cruztelco to be able to contact Globe or PLDT subscribers was not consistent with the NTC ruling on no long distance charges in areas with the same area code.

It also claimed that there has been difficulty in making local calls to a subscriber of a different telephone service provider unless one dials the “035” area code, which, “interestingly, the same problem is not experienced.”

The CAI had expressed concern over the absence of a full interconnection among the three telecommunication firms that would also hamper emergency calls to the police, fire department or the hospital.

The group has asked the NTC for “swift action” on these concerns: full interconnection of telecom companies operating in areas with the same access code, and the provision of enough interconnection circuits to facilitate efficient communication between subscribers and the different telephone companies.

Moreover, CAI sought for a “refund for unfair charges due to long distance rates charged by telephone companies from the time that they should have been interconnected.”

The CAI recently met with NTC local representative Bill Peralta but the NTC Central Office has yet to issue its response on these matters.