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PLDT, Innove at loggerheads over VoIP call access charges
2006-10-13
PLDT said it filed a complaint with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) against Innove, which is a subsidiary of Globe Telecom, Inc.
The company said Innove had been routing international calls to PLDT's network without an interconnection agreement.
A legal counsel of GlobeQuest, however, stressed that PLDT has "nothing to block" since the problem was resolved two to three months ago.
"They have nothing to block. This GlobeQuest Webphone service is only available for domestic use. But some subscribers have used it abroad. So lumalabas na domestic sa PLDT (So it appeared as a domestic call on PLDT landlines). We have resolved this two to three months ago. This service is for a Globeline subscriber calling another Globeline subscriber. The matter we're trying to resolve here is access charges," said Froilan Castelo, assistant vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs of Globe Telecom, in a telephone interview.
Castelo said Globe and PLDT are still negotiating how they should charge subscribers making VoIP calls that are routed outside of their telephone networks.
"The problem here is that we don't have a template. We have no experience. We're contemplating to using the current access charges for data, but that is just one of the options," the Globe lawyer said.
Castelo said Globe aims to resolve this matter with PLDT by end of 2006.
"When we offered our Webphone service, it was only for domestic purposes. But a handful of our subscribers are using it abroad. We believe it does not have an impact on [their] revenues," he added.
Meanwhile, PLDT said calls from the United States and the United Kingdom were being routed and connected as a local call to PLDT landlines through GlobeQUEST's Webphone. This service allows subscribers to call from a computer to a telephone line using VoIP technology.
In its complaint filed with the NTC, PLDT stressed Innove violated the terms and conditions of an interconnection agreement with Innove. The agreement states that both parties will not engage in an "operation or service that constitutes uncompensated bypass of their respective systems."
Innove's letter to PLDT said the company had no intention of avoiding the payment of appropriate access charges to PLDT.
"However, there are some unscrupulous users who bring Globe1 cards abroad and use the WebPhone service to call PLDT subscribers. This was done despite the clear instructions in the website that the GlobeQUEST WebPhone service is limited to Philippine users only," Innove's letter said.
Current NTC guidelines state that "no value-added service provider shall provide VoIP services to the public for compensation--where such services require access to or use of a network provider's facilities--unless it has entered into an agreement with the network provider."
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