NTC slashes interconnection charges for text messages (Phillipines)
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has cut down the interconnection charges for short messaging service (SMS) among telecom operators, in an attempt to provide users with more affordable rates for sending text messages. According to reports, the regulatory authority has ordered that the interconnection charge for SMS between two separate telecommunications networks should not exceed $0.003 (15 centavos) per SMS through its Memorandum Circular No. 02-10-2011. Consequently, the new rates will come down by $0.005 (20 centavos) from $0.008 (35 centavos).
As per sources, Gamaliel Cordoba, NTC Commissioner has said that the enactment of the new SMS interconnection rates was in line was in line with the provisions of the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, which seeks the establishment of fair and reasonable interconnection among public operators and other telecommunications service providers at reasonable and fair cost. He further said that the reduced SMS interconnection rate would translate to lower retail price of text messaging services and make the popular telecommunication services more accessible and affordable to a greater number of people throughout the country. Currently, telecom operators charge a rate of $0.002 (10 centavos) per text message within their network, however the rates for messages sent across different operators increase with the additional cost of the network receiving the text message along with the interconnection charge of $0.008 (35 centavos) per message.
Further, under the same circular, network operators were also ordered to ensure that they have the adequate facilities required to guarantee that 99 percent of the text messages reach their destination within 30 seconds of being sent. In order to achieve this, it is proposed that all networks involved in the interconnection should provide the required links or circuits to effectively handle their SMS traffic.
Globe aims 1.3m broadband subscribers in 2010 (Phillipines)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 1.3 million Broadband subscribers in the year 2010 has been aimed by Globe telecom, a target which is nearly double the 715,000 it had at the end of 2009. The company also expects that country’s broadband subscribers will increase to about four million to five million in 2010 from last year’s total of 2.5 million.
$230 million of its planned $500 million capital spending for this year has been set aside by Globe to expand its broadband capacity and coverage.
484,000 new broadband subscribers were added by Globe in 2009 with 198,000 added in the fourth quarter alone.
Vietnamese telcos join effort to lay cable from Asia to US
Telegeography writes…Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT) and Viettel, the two government-owned telecoms operators, have joined an international consortium to lay a USD780 million fibre-optic cable linking Asia directly with the US, to meet the region’s growing internet demand. Work on the cable, which will land in Vietnam at Vung Tau, and will pass through a hub in Malaysia, is due to start at the end of the month, with completion slated for March 2008. The eight-firm consortium also includes AT&T of the US, CAT of Thailand, PLDT of the Phillipines, REACH of Hong Kong, StarHub of Singapore and Malaysia Telecom. Communications to South East Asia was affected by an undersea earthquake off Taiwan on Boxing Day last year, which severely damaged existing cables and gave the project a new urgency.
