THERE were 11,106 radio operators or dealers with expired licenses in three regions as of December 31,2020 but the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was unable to monitor or identify those who failed to renew their permits, the Commission on Audit said.
In the 2020 audit of NTC released last July 30, government auditors said the commission has failed to create a centralized Database Management and Monitoring system to flag which operators or stations are still using airwaves on expired permits.
Under RA 3846, the NTC was granted the authority to regulate the construction, installation and operation of radio stations as well as the possession, manufacture, sale and transfer of transmitters or transceivers.
It also empowered the commission to regulate the operation or radio, broadcast, and telecommunications services.
A review by the audit team of NTC’s records showed that as of the yearend 2020, there were 10,168 expired radio licenses in Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), 804 in Region 6 (Western Visayas), and 134 in Region (Central Luzon).
Records showed there were 18,567 licenses, permits, or certificates issued in Region 8 for radio or mobile telecommunications users but more than half or 54.67 percent have expired with no application for renewal.
The NTC said the job of inspecting and monitoring the license holders has been hampered by manpower shortage and travel restrictions imposed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NTC-Region 8 admitted that because of the difficulty in monitoring, “proliferation of users or dealers with expired licenses/permits maybe rampant.
This means fees due the government are not being collected to help raise revenues.
The Enforcement, Licensing, and Operations Division said inspection of a certain area is usually prompted by a request from the NTC Central Office or when there are complaints accompanied by requests for investigation.
Auditors noted that the NTC could have performed its mandate better by creating a database to prompt it whenever a license or permit is about to expire and generate a notification for the said operator to apply for a renewal or to cease operations altogether.
