GLOBE Telecom said the 2007 policy of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)—mandating the development of reference access offers, or RAO—and its proposed implementing guidelines may be illegal in the absence of a law which justifies the basis to issue these documents.

“Both the circular on RAO and the guidelines are without basis in law. In fact, the circular and the draft guidelines are violative of laws,” said Globe senior vice president Rodolfo Salalima in an interview.

The RAO spells out the terms and conditions under which a carrier shall provide access to fixed and mobile networks, mobile data, Internet and broadband services, among others, to access seekers. The NTC said this is intended to provide a regulatory measure to expedite negotiations, ensure that the terms and conditions of access are transparent, fair and reasonable, and minimize access-related disputes.

But Globe said “access” is different from interconnection as these terms are separately defined in the circular and in the draft guidelines. In fact, he said, both documents repeatedly invoke the provisions of RA 7925 on interconnection.

“Why invoke the statutory provisions on interconnection to justify access when these two terms are entirely different. The question then is, what is the legal basis of these two documents? Can the NTC expand interconnection as statutorily defined in RA 7925? The answer is no because the NTC has no legislative power or any power for that matter to redefine or expand a concept so clearly and expressly defined in law,” said Salalima.

Globe had submitted to the NTC its position paper on RAO, said Salalima.

He said the NTC documents impose legal obligations on the parties, particularly on access providers such as Globe. But how can the NTC impose any legal obligation on any phone firm without any basis in law, the Globe lawyer pointed out.

“What is the source of obligations of the so-called access providers and fundamentally what is the legal or statutory basis of these obligations?” asked Salalima.

With the RAO, the NTC hopes to protect access seekers who usually wield less bargaining powers than the access providers who control the essential facilities. Simply put, a standard interconnection agreement will be established to ensure that small players seeking for interconnection from the major telcos are not bullied.

For industry stakeholders, who strongly opposed the RAO, this new interconnection template will only nullify the interconnection agreements already mutually entered into by two interconnecting carriers. They questioned the legality and constitutionality of the RAO.

Despite appeals from the phone firms to withhold the issuance of the prescribing RAO, the NTC promulgated a memorandum circular on RAO in July last year. Last month, the NTC circulated the detailed guidelines governing the implementation of the RAO.

“Putting up telecommunications infrastructure or network for one’s telecommunications services is a function of a company’s budget or capex which, in turn, is subject to management’s purely private decision. Certainly, the NTC cannot compel any carrier to make an extra budget for capex for the access requirement of any VAS provider which, having decided to enter into business, cannot but must provide its own network in the first place,” said the Globe lawyer.

Globe also asked the NTC that if a carrier does not have an extra budget for extra infrastructure or extra capacities, “can it be compelled to provide access under these 2 documents which, at that, have no basis in law?”

Moreover, Globe does not want to provide an access seeker access not only to its network but also to classified information such as customer base. Salalima said a carrier’s customer base is a trade secret.

“We hasten to add that a public telecommunications entity may or may not choose to lese out its facilities for a number of reasons… One, there is no capacity to spare; two, terms may be unfavorable; three, operations and security might be compromised. Whatever the case may be, the point is that carriers invest heavily in network infrastructure, and as a matter of principle, only at their own behest or consent should their property be opened up to anyone,” said Salalima.

BELTON Communities Inc., the affordable housing arm of listed Eton Properties Philippines Inc., would intensify the sale of its products to non-US overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in light of a slowdown in the US economy.

Megaworld 2007 net profit up 48% to P3.01B

LISTED property developer Megaworld Corp. said its net profit for 2007 rose 48 percent to P3.01 billion from P2.04 billion a year earlier.

GLOBE Telecom said the 2007 policy of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)—mandating the development of reference access offers, or RAO—and its proposed implementing guidelines may be illegal in the absence of a law which justifies the basis to issue these documents.

SAMSUNG Electronics aims to double its share of the mobile-phone market in the Philippines to 25 percent this year and has launched 18 new-handset models that include one at P2,200—the lowest price point in the market today.

US-based printing solutions giant Lexmark has reiterated its long-term commitment to its operations in Cebu City with the construction of two buildings at the Cebu Business Park.

GMA Network Inc. is a rare listed company.  It declares dividends not out of surplus in prior years but out of retained earnings plus net profit in current year, which refers to the year when dividends are declared.