NTC steps in to try to resolve PLDT-Globe interconnection row

Filipino industry regulator the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will seek input from domestic telcos Globe Telecom and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), as it strives to resolve a long-running interconnectivity dispute between the two in Northern Luzon. According to Rey Espinosa, regulatory and policy affairs head of PLDT, the carrier welcomes the watchdog’s intervention, which he says will ‘clearly demonstrate to NTC that we are not at fault’. Both parties are blaming each other for their failure to successfully interconnect their networks in the region. ‘Failure to interconnect is not intentional or deliberate on our part. Network interconnection is not [a] ‘plug and play’ process [and both sides involved] have to meet certain conditions … before you can physically interconnect them. There has to be readiness on both networks,’ said Espinosa. Outages in North Luzon were first reported on 25 February 25 due to the ‘unavailability of signalling links’.