The Philippines Competition Commission (PCC) opened a preliminary inquiry into complaints filed by Dito Telecommunity, against its rivals Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, the latest in a spat over alleged interconnection violations.
In a statement, the PCC said it “found reasonable grounds” to launch the investigation citing possible violation of section 15 of the Philippine Competition Act (PCA) which relates to “abuse of dominance”. Also, being investigated is whether Globe and have violated ant-competition measures.
The PCC will collaborate with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and other relevant authorities for regulatory and technical considerations.
China Telecom-backed Dito filed its case with the PCC this year after CEO Adel Tamano claimed customers were unable to connect to rival networks, citing a rule under the NCT which demands operators to enable 99% of connectivity services to connect to rival networks.
Globe Telecom hit back at Dito by requesting permission from the telecoms regulator to completely sever its interconnection deal with its rival to protect customers from fraudulent calls. Globe also stated Dito had not paid PHP622 million (US$11.1m) in fines for its failure to block out nefarious calls.
