Youth partylist to presidential bets

Make known your stand on per-pulse billing of cellphone calls

Kabataan Party-list Representative Raymond ‘Mong’ Palatino today called on presidential bets to speak on the halted per-pulse rate billing as per the granting of the Court of Appeals (CA) of a temporary restraining order filed by telecommunication giants Globe and Smart against the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC).

Palatino said that with 80 million mobile phone users in the Philippines, cheaper call and text rates and consumer rights are issues that candidates should address this 2010 elections. “We challenge candidates to set aside their business backings and give a stand with regard to this issue,” he said.

The youth solon lamented the TRO because “consumers would have benefited greatly from a per-pulse rate billing, especially during these time of crisis.”

For example, a nine-minute and five-second (9-min, 5-sec) call in a per-minute rate of billing would cost P75.00, while in a per-pulse rate scheme it would only cost P68.23. “This would translate into savings especially for prepaid account users.”

Palatino said that the refusal of telcos to implement the per-pulse-rate billing is another downside of a deregulated telco industry.

“It is against consumer rights when the government, the NTC for this matter, is being deemed toothless by telcos in regulating prices.” He said that it is within the NTC’s mandate to regulate prices, citing Sec. 17 of RA 7925 or the Telecommunications Act of the Philippines stating, “The Commission (NTC) shall establish rates and tariffs which are fair and reasonable and which provide for the economic viability of telecommunications entities and a fair return on their investments considering the prevailing cost of capital in the domestic and international markets.”

Palatino urged the NTC to immediately submit an appeal to the CA. ###