Saturday, July 4, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Corporate News
Telecommunication firms were caught off-guard by new rules extending the validity of prepaid credits released by regulators, reserving the right to question the order in court.
Spokesmen for major telcos said on Friday they have yet to determine the impact of the new regulations on their businesses, and complained there were not enough consultations.
Memorandum Circular 03-07-2009 issued by the National Telecommunications Commission Friday extended the validity of subscribers' load or prepaid credits as follows:
- P10 or lower - three days
- more than P10 to P50 - 15 days
- more than P50 to P100 - 30 days
- more than P100 to P150 - 45 days
- more than P150 to P250 - 60 days
- more than P250 to P300 - 75 days
- more than P300 - 120 days
Moreover, the mechanism to check credit balance and expiry must be free of charge. The order will take effect 15 days after publication in newspapers.
Smart Communications, Inc. spokesman Ramon R. Isberto said: "We are still studying the [memorandum circular], its impact on our business and our ability to provide the service in compliance with the new rules."
He pointed out that Smart has yet to submit a position paper on new telco rules, as regulators set the submission on Monday.
Globe Telecom, Inc.'s head of corporate and regulatory affairs Caridad D. Gonzales said her company had opposed extending the validity of prepaid credits. "We indicated [in our position paper] that [extending] load validity is not the solution to the current issue. Customers are only loading [credits] that are based on what they need. So, expiration period is not really an issue," she added.
Globe Telecom has yet to study the technical implications of the new guidelines and is keeping the option of going to court for an injunction, she added.
Digital Telecommunications Phils., Inc. (Digitel) senior vice-president for legal affairs William Pamintuan said there had been public hearings conducted by regulators but these were in connection with other draft circulars, and did not tackle some provisions in the new rules approved Friday.
Like Smart and Globe, Digitel is also studying the technical implications of the new regulations and will seek clarification on some of the new provisions, citing system modifications that would have to be implemented. — J.F. de Guzman
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