Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. will cooperate with the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on its investigation into the alleged anti-competitive practice in their interconnection deals with third telco player Dito Telecommunity Corp.
Last Friday, the PCC said it found reasonable grounds to open a preliminary inquiry into the complaints filed by Dito against Globe and Smart.
The PCC Enforcement Office (CEO) will look into the allegations in the complaints for possible violation of Section 15 of the Philippine Competition Act (PCA) pertaining to abuse of dominance, and will study whether other violations of the PCA pertaining to anti-competitive agreements have been committed.
On August 8, Dito said, it was constrained to file complaints before the PCC as its subscribers had difficulty in making calls to the other two networks — out of 100 call attempts, 70 to 80 calls failed.
That was way below the standard set by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) which allows one failed call in every 100 call attempts.
Smart and Globe also raised their concerns over Dito’s unsettled penalties due to the fraudulent mobile calls that allegedly violate their interconnection deals.
Both Smart and Globe welcomed the inquiry of the PCC in the interconnection case and reaffirmed their commitment to maintain a healthy competition in the telco sector.
In a statement, PLDT Inc. wireless unit Smart said it is confident that the PCC will, in due course, clear it of any wrongdoing in respect of Dito’s complaint.
“Thus, it is only fair that for Smart to act on Dito’s request for increase in interconnection capacity, Dito must first address the serious and continuing deficiencies in its own network that have allowed criminals to abuse interconnection facilities by fraudulently masking international calls as domestic, thereby prejudicing Smart subscribers who are victimized by scams, and depriving the government of tax revenue, and Smart of toll income,” Smart said.
Globe, for its part, said it welcomes the opportunity to present to the PCC how Dito violated the terms and conditions of its interconnection agreement which prompted the filing of a previous case with the NTC.
“Likewise, we reiterate our view that this is a clear case of forum shopping since a similar case for the same issues is pending with the NTC,” Globe said.
As PCC proceeds with the investigation, it will coordinate and consult with the NTC and other relevant authorities for regulatory and technical considerations.
“The PCC takes complaints of anti-competitive behavior very seriously. Without prejudging the outcome of the CEO’s investigation, the PCC reminds players with substantial market power, not only in the telecommunications industry but across sectors, of their responsibility to compete fairly and to adhere to the principles of competition,” PCC said.
Meanwhile, Adel Tamano, Dito chief administrative officer, said in a statement Friday the case, from the onset, has not been about mere commercial terms but rather it is about public interest in interconnection between the telco players and fostering genuine competition in the industry.
“Today is a historic day for Filipino telco subscribers. We welcome the PCC finding reasonable grounds to move forward with Dito’s complaint against Globe and Smart for their abuse of dominant position, which undermines competition,” Tamano said.