NTC: Cellphone firms must give free voice calls
By Dennis C. Serfino
Manila Standard

The National Telecommunications Commission is working on a memorandum
circular that would require cellular phone companies to give subscribers 10
minutes worth of free voice calls to make up for the hugely unpopular
reduction in free text allocations.
NTC Commissioner Eliseo Rio Jr. said the free 10 minutes is just one of
several possible offerings. "There are many options, but they must offer an
equivalent or an alternative because after giving subscribers free text,
they cannot just take that away," he said.
Rio assured subscribers the circular will be issued before Christmas. "In
fact, I'm meeting with the cellphone firms next week to finalize this.
Anyway, they promised to study this measure," he added.
Globe Telecom and its subsidiary Isla Communications Inc. and Smart
Communications and its sister company Pilipino Telephone Corp. are
implementing the free text cut in two tranches. The cellphone companies
took away one-third in September, and will remove another one-third in
January. For example, a Globe prepaid user who used to have 150 free text
per P250 card now only has 100 messages. This will finally go down to 50 in
January.
Rio is also pushing for the implementation of the six-second per-pulse
billing unit for voice calls as mandated by Memorandum Circular 13-6-2000
issued last year. This means voice calls will be charged every six seconds,
instead of per minute.

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Star TV blinks, offers lower fees
By Dennis C. Serfino
Manila Standard

Bidding to salvage stalled negotiations, Star TV Asia has proposed to
SkyCable and Home Cable lower programming fees and a schedule of payments
for the service providers' arrears amounting to P160 million.
The merged cable companies confirmed that discussions are ongoing but
declined to give details, saying talks are at a "sensitive" stage.
The proposal was made in a meeting in Hong Kong last week, according to an
executive of Cable Technology Asia Corp., the local subsidiary of Star TV.
"We proposed something lower than the original proposal price. As for the
settlement, I think we have already agreed in principle," said David
Ilagan, vice president for distribution.
Ilagan declined to mention how much, but said the new proposal was lower
than the $5.5 million a month that Sky and Home used to pay Star TV. He
refuted a claim made by the cable operators that the content provider had
raised programming costs from $5.5 million to $10 million. "It was never
$10 million," he added.
Star TV expects a response from the merged Sky and Home this week. "The
ball is in their court. Once they determine that the schedule of payments
is acceptable then we can talk about the fees. Once they take the channels
back, we can talk about the particulars. It's really up to them now,"
Ilagan said.
Speaking for both Sky and Home, Carlos Tria Jr., managing director of Sky
Vision Corp., said they are reviewing Star TV's proposal. "There are
discussions that are ongoing but I'd rather not comment because these are
currently at a sensitive stage," he added.
Star TV, which provides such popular channels as ESPN, Star Movies and
National Geographic, pulled the plug on the country's top two cable
providers over unpaid fees last month. The withdrawal of the Star channels
enraged subscribers, who were further incensed when Sky and Home later
announced an increase in monthly subscription rates. Sky and Home together
account for 60 percent of the local cable TV market.
Home will increase its rate to P550 effective Nov. 15 from P400 because of
rising programming costs and the devaluation of the peso, according to
company officials. Sky will follow suit before the year ends with a similar
P150 increase, from P550 per month to P700.

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