NTC to crack down on telcos delivering poor internet services

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in the Philippines is toughening its stance on local telcos which it feels are providing sub-par internet access services in the country, including measures to impose fines and provide rebates if their broadband service is interrupted or if connection speeds dip below a minimum threshold level. In a press release at the weekend, the NTC said it would publish a draft circular designed to penalise companies which fall short of providing minimum service guarantees, noting that: ‘Upon the occurrence of periods where the service is interrupted, said periods shall not be subject to billing by the service provider,’ and that, ‘Should these periods not be contiguous or should these periods be intermittent, they shall be aggregated for purpose of refund or rebate’. Further, the watchdog will insist that telcos deliver a service not less than 50% of the advertised ‘up to’ data rate, while service reliability must be maintained at a level of >80%.