Smart & Extelcom oppose SMS tax proposal (Philippines)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The tax proposed by Philippines on SMS is being opposed by the mobile operators Smart Communications and Express Telecommunications (Extelcom). According to Smart, the proposal to impose a PHP 0.05 tax on text messages will be a disincentive for potential investors, the company said in a position paper submitted to NTC.
The proposal is likely to tell the investors that the government ‘punishes successful commercial investments through the tax on the perceived huge revenues of SMS providers’. Extelcom, in its position paper, called the proposal impractical and said it lacks planning, consultation, and research.