Globe Telecom Inc. is urging members of the Philippines Association of Private Telecommunications Companies Inc (PAPTELCO) to directly interconnect with Globe to lower their access charges by P1.
Lawyer Froilan Castelo, head for Regulatory Affairs of Globe, said that if PAPTELCO members will directly interconnect with Globe, they will pay an access charge on P3 instead of P4 which they are currently paying when calls from PAPTELCO going to Globe pass through the PLDT network.
PAPTELCO has been asking for subsidy from Globe and PLDT and its subsidiary Smart Communication Inc., as the former is suffering from declining revenues from tolls and ever increasing cost of operations.
Globe said that it cannot give subsidy. It said that Paptelco members may only be entitled to subsidy (assuming there is a fixed amount or rate) when their respective networks are directly interconnected with a CMTS or IGF networks.
Castelo said that his company is willing to pay in advance the $ 4,000 worth of equipment necessary to directly interconnect with them. Based on the rule, the PAPTELCO and the telecom firm are entitled to pay equal for the equipment used in interconnection.