EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 59
PRESCRIBING THE POLICY GUIDELINES FOR COMPULSORY
INTERCONNECTION OF AUTHORIZED PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS IN ORDER TO
CREATE A UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE AND FULLY INTEGRATED NATIONWIDE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
NETWORK AND THEREBY ENCOURAGE GREATER PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT IN
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
WHEREAS, in
recognition of the vital role of communications in nation-building, it has
become the objective of government to promote advancement in the field of
telecommunications and the expansion of telecommunications services and
facilities in all areas of the Philippines;
WHEREAS, there is
a need to enhance effective competition in the telecommunications industry in order
to promote the State policy of providing the environment for the emergence of
communications structures suitable to the balanced flow of information into,
out of, and across the country;
WHEREAS, there is
a need to maximize the use of telecommunications facilities available and to
encourage investment in telecommunications infrastructure by service providers
duly authorized by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC);
WHEREAS, there is
a need to ensure that all users of the public telecommunications service have
access to all other users of the service wherever they may be within the
Philippines at an acceptable standard of service and at reasonable cost;
WHEREAS, the much
needed advancement in the field of telecommunications and expansion of
telecommunications services and facilities will be promoted by the effective
interconnection of public telecommunications carriers or service operators;
WHEREAS, the
Supreme Court of the Philippines, in the case of Philippine Long Distance
Telephone Co. v. The National Telecommunications Commission [G.R. No. 88404, 18
October 1990, 190 SCRA 717, 734] categorically declared that "Rep. Act No.
6849, or the Municipal Telephone Act of 1989, approved on 8 February 1990,
mandates interconnection providing as it does that all domestic
telecommunications carriers or utilities . . . shall be interconnected to the
public switch telephone network.";
WHEREAS, under
Executive Order No. 546 dated 23 July 1979, as amended, the NTC has the power,
as the public interest may require, "to encourage a larger and more
effective use of communications facilities, and to maintain effective
competition among private entities whenever the NTC finds it reasonably
feasible"; and
WHEREAS, there is
a need to prescribe the consolidated policy guidelines to implement Rep. Act
No. 6849 and Executive Order No. 546, as amended.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:
Sec.
1. The NTC shall expedite the interconnection of all NTC authorized public
telecommunications carriers into a universally accessible and fully integrated
nationwide telecommunications network for the benefit of the public.
Sec.
2. Interconnection between NTC authorized public telecommunications carriers
shall be compulsory. Interconnection shall mean the linkage, by wire, radio,
satellite or other means, of two or more existing telecommunications carriers
or operators with one another for the purpose of allowing or enabling the subscribers
of one carrier or operator to access or reach the subscribers of the other
carriers or operators.
Sec.
3. Interconnection shall be established and maintained at such point or points
of connections, preferably at the local exchanges level and at the junction
side of trunk exchanges as are required within a reasonable time frame and
shall be for sufficient capacity and in sufficient number to enable messages
conveyed or to be conveyed to conviniently meet all reasonable traffic demands
for conveyance of messages between the system of the parties involved in the
interconnection.
Sec.
4. Interconnection shall permit the customer of either party freedom of choice
on whose system the customer wishes his call to be routed regardless which
system provides the exchange line connecting to the local exchange. Such a
choice may be done initially though the use of district carrier access code
assigned to the relevant connectable system and ultimately, as the local
exchange providers upgrade to stored-program-controlled (SPC) exchanges,
comparatively efficient interconnect (CEI) or equal access pre-programmed
option.
Sec.
5. Interconnection shall be mandatory with regard to connecting other
telecommunications services such as but not limited to value-added services of
radio paging, trunking radio, store and forward systems of facsimile or
messaging (voice or data), packet switching (including the conveyance of
messages which have been or are to be transmitted or received at such points of
connection), information and other services as the NTC may determine to be in
the interest of the public and in the attainment of the objective of a
universally accessible, fully integrated nationwide telecommunications network.
Sec.
6. Interconnection shall be negotiated and effected through bilateral
negotiations between the parties involved subject to certain
technical/operational and traffic settlement rules to be promulgated by the
NTC; Provided, that if the parties fail to reach an agreement within ninety
(90) days from date of notice to the NTC and the other party of the request to
negotiable, the NTC shall, on application of any of the parties involved,
determine the terms and conditions that the parties have not agreed upon but
which appears to the NTC to be reasonably necessary to effect a workable and
equitable interconnection and traffic settlement.
Sec.
7. Interconnection among public communications carriers shall be effected in
such a manner that permits re-routing of calls from an international gateway
operator which is rendered inoperative, whether in whole or in part, in the
event of strikes, lock-outs, disasters, calamities and similar causes, to
another international gateway operator not so effected. A public
telecommunications carrier shall be allowed such permits to operate an
international gateway as may be necessary to service its own network
requirements; Provided, that its subsidiaries shall not be given a permit to
operate another international gateway.
Sec.
8. In prescribing the applicable technical/operational and traffic settlement
rules, the NTC shall consider the following:
8.1
The technical/operational rules should conform with the relevant
recommendations of the Consultative Committee on International Telegraph and
Telephone (CCITT) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
8.2
For traffic settlement rules:
(a)
Either meet-on-the-air and/or midpoint circuit interconnection between parties;
(b)
For local exchange point of interconnection, settlement shall be on the basis
of volume of traffic on the local connection based on per minute with day and
night rate differential. In case of store and forward services for facsimile,
data and voice mail, settlement shall be on the basis of equivalent monthly
trunk line charges as generally charged by the local exchange carrier (LEC) to
its customer owning their own PABX;
(c)
For junction exchange point of interconnection, settlement shall be on the
basis of volume of traffic carried over:
(i)
short haul connection not exceeding 150 kilometers; and
(ii)
long haul connection exceeding 150 kilometers.
Similarly,
a per minute rate shall be evolved with day and night differential. The
determination of the per minute rate is based on the principle of recognizing
recovery of the toll related cost and fair return of the investment of the
facilities employed in making the toll call exchange between the system.
(d)
Subsidies which shall be approved on the basis of the sound public policy shall
be allowed in two (2) ways:
(i)
for operator assisted calls - an operator sur-charge kept by the system that
employs the operator; and
(ii)
access charge - the principle of access charge is an assistance to the
unprofitable rural telephone development, remote pay stations, etc., thereby
assuring the universal service obligation of the PSTN operators. The
introduction of the access charge may result in a charge that will be passed on
to the subscribers of the PSTN.
Sec.
9. Interconnection shall at all times satisfy the requirements of effective
competition and shall be effected in a non-discriminatory manner.
Sec.
10. The Points of Connection (PC) between public telecommunications carriers
shall be defined by the NTC, and the apportionment of costs and division of revenues
resulting from interconnection of telecommunications networks shall be approved
or prescribed by the NTC.
Sec.
11. Interconnecting parties shall share the cost of interconnection in
accordance with their respective responsibilities, maintain and operate their
facilities, and comply with their obligations as agreed upon and approved by
the NTC, or as prescribed by the NTC.
Sec.
12. Interconnection and revenue-sharing agreements approved or prescribed by
the NTC ,may be revoked, revised, or amended as the NTC deems fit in the
interest of the public service.
Sec.
13. In the implementation of this Executive Order, the NTC may, after due
notice and hearing, impose the following penalties in case of violation of any
of the provisions hereof:
13.1.
Imposition of such administrative fines, penalties and sanctions as may be
allowed or prescribed by existing laws;
13.2.
Suspension of further action on all pending and future applications for
permits, licenses or authorizations of the violating carrier or operator and in
which particular case, the NTC shall be exempted from compliance with the
provisions of Executive Order No. 26 dated 7 October 1992 on the period for the
disposition of cases or matters pending before it;
13.3.
With the approval of the President, directive to the appropriate government
financial or lending institutions to withhold the releases on any loan or
credit accommodation which the violating carrier or operator may have with
them;
13.4.
Disqualification of the employees, officers or directors of the violating
carrier or operator from being employed in any enterprise or entity under the
supervision of the NTC; and
13.5.
In appropriate cases, suspension of the authorized rates for any service or services
of the violating carrier or operator without disruption of its services to the
public.
Sec.
14. The NTC is directed to promulgate the implementing rules to this Executive
Order within ninety (90) days from the date of effectivity hereof.
Sec.
15. All executive orders, administrative orders, and other issuances,
inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.
Sec.
16. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.
DONE
in the City of Manila, this 24th day of February in the year of Our Lord,
Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Three.