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THE
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Group said
its foreign partners in the $550-million Asia-America
Gateway (AAG) cable project should have a say on a
proposed policy seeking mandatory interconnection of
backhaul networks to all landing stations.
The
phone giant said the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) should take into consideration that
PLDT is just part of the AAG consortium and that its
operation is bound by an agreement.
“The
international cable stations are facilities constructed
for landing of cable systems owned by a consortium. The
said consortium is composed not only of Philippine
carriers but also of foreign partners. Requests for
interconnection will only be accepted if it is allowed
in the construction and maintenance agreement (C&MA),”
PLDT said in a position paper submitted to the NTC.
The AAG
cable project will provide Southeast Asian countries
direct high-capacity cable connectivity to the US
mainland. Construction of the project is already
underway and submarine cables are being laid down to
interconnect 10 major countries and to the US via Guam
and Hawaii.
The
construction, maintenance, operation and administration
of the cable landing station of the AAG—located in
barangay Baccuit in Bauang, La Union—are covered by an
agreement, which both Philippine and foreign partners
are bound to honor, PLDT pointed out.
“Currently, third-party connection is only allowed in
AAG on terms and conditions negotiated and agreed to by
the parties. If the consortium’s C&MA allows third-party
connections, it should be covered by a bilateral
agreement,” added PLDT.
In the
existing cable-system agreements, PLDT said only coowner
parties to a specific cable system are allowed to have
cable-station access.
“Being a
coowner, Globe Telecom was granted by PLDT the right of
direct access to the Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2
(APCN2) terminated at PLDT’s Batangas cable-landing
station as it is allowed in the agreement and the terms
and conditions were negotiated and agreed by the parties
concerned. Similarly, PLDT is working on another direct
access request by ETPI,” PLDT explained.
The NTC,
anytime soon, is set to issue another new policy, the
mandatory interconnection of backhaul networks to the
international cable landing stations, said NTC director
Edgardo Cabarios.
Under
the present setup, cable-landing stations are connected
to the national networks through the backhaul facilities
of a carrier, which operates and owns the cable-landing
stations. For instance, traffic landing passing through
PLDT’s Nasugbu, Batangas landing station has to go
through the phone giant’s own backhaul network.
Right
now, the cable-landing stations of PLDT, Digital
Telecommunications Phils. Inc. (Digitel) and Globe
Telecom Inc. are connected separately through their own
backhaul facilities.
The NTC
earlier proposed that “the opening of backhaul-network
services to other suppliers will bring down the prices
to market levels to the benefit of the consumers. Since
the backhaul networks are necessary to bring the traffic
to and from the international optical submarine-cable
systems, the cost of the backhaul networks is part of
the prices of international circuits.”
“The
objective here is really to bring down prices of telco
services that require international connections like
fixed-line, mobile international long distance, and even
text messaging,” said Cabarios.
For
those that do not have their own cable-landing station,
Cabarios said this proposed policy will benefit them
because they will be able to choose which backhaul
network to use.
“The
commission really wants all landing stations handling
international calls going to and from submarine cables
interconnected to all backhaul networks. This move will
definitely reduce the fees paid by consumers who avail
themselves of international telecommunication services,”
added Cabarios.
But PLDT
said, while backhaul networks are necessary to bring
down traffic to and from the international optical
submarine-cable systems, it does not follow that the
cost of backhaul networks is part of the prices of
international circuits.
“Philippine carriers avail themselves of their
international circuits from the consortium, not from the
cable-landing station operator. The cost of the
international circuit does not include backhaul
facilities, which may be owned by the cable-landing
station operator. The investment of coowners does not
cover the cost of backhaul facilities. As such, the
backhaul network provider should be properly compensated
for the use of its facilities,” added PLDT.
The
draft circular is also requiring a cable-landing station
operator to provide sufficient space within its premises
and terminating equipment to interconnect the backhaul
networks to the international optical-cable systems.
“If
interconnection would require the installation of radio
equipment, the radio equipment shall [be] provided by
the backhaul-network providers. The cable-landing
station operator shall provide the required space and
termination equipment,” the circular said.
But PLDT
said, “this should not be provided free of charge and
should be part of the negotiations.”
“Each
backhaul-network operator shall provide the
trunks/circuits necessary to interconnect its backhaul
network to the cable-landing stations,” the draft order
said, adding that each operator should ensure that the
number of trunks/circuits is sufficient to meet at least
the minimum prescribed grade of service.
At
present, PLDT has invested in 17 international cable
projects around the globe at a cost of approx $238
million. Four of these systems—namely, APCN, APCN2, GP,
and SEAMEWE 3—are hosted by PLDT for their termination
in the Philippines. The company said the international
capacity and diversity of the cable projects are
unmatched.
As of
2007, PLDT operated a total of 90 Gigabits per second (Gbps)
in international cable-system capacity over two landing
stations via five major cable systems, the largest and
the most diverse in the country.
By the
end 2008, international capacity will increase to 125
Gbps. |
