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THE
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has allowed
cross-offering of telecommunications services between
Smart Communications Inc. and Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel).
Such an
arrangement was not allowed because on-net applies only
to traffic sent to the same network. In a decision last
January, the NTC revoked the promo approvals concerning
cross-offering or off-net pricing schemes of Smart and
Piltel.
Off-net
means a promo of a carrier is also offered to
subscribers of another carrier.
Back
then, Globe Telecom complained that Smart’s All Text
Plus promo and Piltel’s Gaan Text Plus P10 promo
violated NTC rules against rate discrimination.
According to the 2005 policy pronouncement of the
commission, the practice of rate discrimination through
off-net promotions is strictly prohibited.
The
commission said the pricing scheme of the said promos
was lower than what they charge other carriers. For
instance, the regular access charge agreement submitted
by Smart and Piltel shows that the SMS (short messaging
service) charge between them is P0.32 per text which is
P0.03 lower than what Smart charges other operators.
“The
beneficiaries of the lower access charge promos are
limited to Smart and Piltel subscribers. The pricing
structure of the promos in question is definitely lower
than the current access charge regime for text
messaging,” the NTC said.
Smart
and Piltel, however, argued that the difference of P0.03
is a fee paid by Piltel to Smart as a compensation for
the use of the latter’s GSM (global system for mobile
communications) network and facilities.
Piltel’s
‘Talk ‘N Text’ service rides on the cellular network of
Smart, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine Long
Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).
In a
recent decision that covered the promo applications
filed by Smart and Piltel, the commission has declared
traffic between Smart and Piltel or Piltel to Smart as
an on-net offering.
“Any
traffic, be it voice, data, text message, etc… between
Smart’s and Piltel’s subscribers are therefore
considered ‘on-net’ traffic,” said the commission ins a
letter dated April 18 and signed by Commissioner Ruel
Canobas and Deputy Commissioners Jorge Sarmiento and
Jaime M. Fortes Jr.
This
decision came after Smart and Piltel revised the method
by which they collect access charges from each other.
An
industry source said Smart and Piltel have shifted to a
so-called compensation sharing arrangement. “There is a
certain ratio that they will agree on. At the end of the
day, Smart will collect an X-amount from Piltel and vice
versa that will represent traffic payment,” said the
source.
Another
source said this new arrangement, which replaced the
access charging scheme, was implemented last February.
With a
new charging method, the NTC gave its go-ahead to the
applications of Smart and Piltel to offer new SMS
promos.
In a
statement Friday, Smart said it was allowed by the NTC
to offer an enhanced text-messaging service for its
prepaid subscribers.
Under
the enhanced UNLI service, Smart prepaid subscribers can
send unlimited SMS (short messaging service) in one day
for P25. The service also comes with 10 extra messages
that can be sent to subscribers of other cellular
networks.
Orlando
B. Vea, chief wireless advisor of Smart said, “We shall
introduce more of these enhanced service packages in
order to provide better value to our Smart Buddy
subscribers.”
Smart
Buddy is Smart’s prepaid GSM (global system for mobile
communications) brand backed by Smart’s extensive
cellular network.
As of
end-February, Smart has 31 million subscribers on its
GSM network. |
