The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has signaled that penalties against the country’s three major telcos could extend beyond Metro Manila, as the regulator clarified that its monitoring of mobile broadband performance covers the entire country.
In a statement dated Sept. 28, the NTC said its mobile broadband speed validation is regularly conducted nationwide through its regional offices, not just in the capital region.
Following these tests, the regulator said it notifies telcos every quarter of barangays where weak or no signal has been detected and directs them to ‘implement improvements to strengthen the quality of service in the identified areas.’
In an earlier statement, the commission said its September testing found that ‘previously recorded poor mobile broadband signals remain substantially unchanged, despite the opportunity afforded mobile network operators to undertake urgent corrective measures.’
The NTC initially identified only areas in Metro Manila when it announced plans to impose a P100,000 daily penalty each on Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc. and DITO Telecommunity Corp.
‘Corrective action’ sought
Specifically, the areas flagged were Manila, Makati and Quezon City for Globe; San Juan, Pasay and Las Piñas for DITO; and Parañaque, Manila and Pasig for Smart.
PLDT Inc., the parent company of Smart, said in a stock exchange disclosure on Tuesday it had received the NTC’s show-cause order.
According to PLDT, the order directed Smart to ‘undertake corrective measures, submit a corrective action plan, and respond to the NTC.’
The P100,000 daily fine would only be lifted once the NTC confirms through another performance revalidation that the identified areas ‘have attained the applicable quality-of-service standard,’ PLDT said.
Globe and DITO likewise said on Tuesday that they had received the order.
Independent validation
Smart, while expressing support for the NTC’s efforts to improve telecommunications services, said it would validate the regulator’s findings against its own network data and independent third-party assessments.
It cited tests by the Department of Information and Communications Technology, to which the NTC is attached, that had rated Smart’s network performance as ‘good’ in July and August.
Smart said it had averaged download speeds of 52.13 megabits per second in August, which it said placed its network at the top nationwide in terms of mobile speeds.
The telco also cited Ookla, which recognized Smart as having the country’s best mobile video experience during the first half, with a video score of 72.82.
‘Smart will use these independent benchmarks, together with its own network data and the NTC’s findings, to guide continuing improvements in network quality, capacity and resilience,’ the PLDT wireless arm said.