Helani Galpaya, COO of LIRNEasia, and Dr. Erwin Alampay, Associate Professor at the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), University of Philippines presented findings from the 2008 TRE study at an event organized by LIRNEasia, in association with the NCPAG on the 3rd of February, 2009. Helani presented results from the regional study while Erwin presented results from the TRE study of the Philippines. Reacting to the results, and participating in the panel discussion were National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Deputy Commissioner Jorge V. Sarmiento and Former Chairman of the Commission on ICTs (CICT), Virgilio Pena.
…in the Philippines: The Manila Times REGULATORS are unlikely to support mobile- phone number portability, as the proposal to allow consumers to maintain their existing numbers when shifting from one service provider to another is too costly. “At this time, based on our study the number portability is costly and it’s not financially viable, but technically feasible,” Edgardo Cabarrios, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) chief for common carriers authorization, told reporters. Under the proposed number portability plan, a subscriber can switch among different service providers while retaining his existing mobile-phone number. This means the subscriber no longer has to buy a new SIM (subscriber identification module) card for every switch. Powered by ScribeFire.
The story below describes the second forced removal of a Chairman of the Philippines telecom regulatory agency since November 2006. They are approaching the Sri Lankan benchmark of three Directors General of Telecom in one year (achieved in 2005). What is interesting is what impact this activity will have on the generally satisfactory Philippines TRE performance recorded in mid 2006 (before the firing habit caught on). Fixed terms for NTC commissioners proposed – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos An ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the House of Representatives said on Tuesday commissioners and deputy commissioners of the National Telecommunications Commission must be given fixed terms of office to insulate the quasi-judicial body from political influence.
LIRNEasia research found that almost all Filipinos at the Bottom of the Pyramid send at least one SMS a day. Here is data from the supply side: The Manila Times Internet Edition | METRO > Filipinos send 500M text messages daily FILIPINOS sent an average of 500 million text messages a day last year, doubling the number of text messages sent in 2005, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said. Edgardo Cabarios, director NTC’s Common Carrier and Authorization Division (CCAD), attributed the increase to the promotional gimmicks offered by mobile-phone service providers like unlimited text messaging, voice call discounts and the rising subscriber number. Data from the NTC show that the country’s subscriber growth rose by 23 percent to 42.87 million subscribers last year from the 34.