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MANILA, Philippines — Globe Telecom Inc. wants DITO Telecommunity to pay P622 million in penalty for allegedly violating their interconnecting agreement, claiming that fraudulent calls were made through the third telco player’s network to the Ayala-led channel.
In a statement on Tuesday, Globe said it had asked the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to compel the Davao businessman Dennis Uy-led telco firm to compensate it for the latter’s actions.
“An average of 1,000 fraudulent calls — identified as international in origin but masked as local calls — are allowed to pass through DITO’s network to Globe users every day, in violation of interconnect rules,” Globe explained, noting that such calls continue to pass through DITO’s network.
The interconnectivity deals of Globe and DITO allow their users to call and send messages to each other.
The Ayala-led company said the penalty covers July 2021 to July 2022 due to “DITO’s adamant refusal to compensate Globe, defying provisions of its interconnect agreement on bypass traffic.”
Preventing illegal calls
Globe, on the other hand, said its monitoring systems and network protection have been preventing illegal calls to pass through its network to DITO.
The telco giant also asked the NTC to temporarily disconnect its trunk lines with DITO until the latter settled the penalty and made “positive and concrete steps to stop all illegal bypass operations emanating from its network.”
“Moreover, these unabated illegal activities have placed the interconnection trunks at serious risk of abuse and the resultant undue congestion of the network, to the detriment of the subscribers,” Globe said.
DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano, in a statement, said the fraudulent calls were made by third parties, making them “equally a victim of such calls.”
“It is not true that DITO has not taken steps to stop ISR (international simple resale) calls to Globe. We have the data and the facts to show the steps undertaken by DITO to minimize these ISR calls,” Tamano explained.
‘Violation of laws’
“Globe’s position that interconnection will be done only if DITO pays for these alleged penalties is an admission that they are making interconnection, which is mandated by law, subject to the acceptance of this alleged obligation,” he added, noting such was in violation of competition laws.
Prior to this, DITO filed complaints on Monday against Globe and Smart Communications before the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) for their alleged abuse of dominant position, which is an act that lessens competition in an industry.
The third telco player said that only about 20 to 30 out of 100 phone calls that DITO subscribers make to Globe and Smart users get through. This means the failure rate ranges from 70 percent to 80 percent, which is way above the one-percent threshold allowed by the law.
PCC said it was already evaluating the merits of the complaints, noting that it has 10 days to decide if this will lead to an investigation. The competition watchdog said it would also consult with NTC on the matter.
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