Filipino operators Globe Telecom and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) have inked a new fixed telephony interconnection agreement covering the provinces of Bataan and Isabela. The interconnect deal will enable customers in each province to call users on each other’s network without incurring additional call charges. Until now, the lack of a reciprocal arrangement has meant customers were forced to make a domestic long-distance (DLD) call when calling one another. The telco confirmed that the Bataan interconnection took effect on 7 December, with the one for Isabela following the day after. Its general counsel Froilan Castelo, confirmed: ‘Globe is strongly committed in providing its customers with affordable and easily accessible ways of communication in line with our commitment for nation-building. This is why the company has been aggressively seeking to expand our interconnection with competition to include more areas and provinces in the country.’ TeleGeography notes that interconnection among telco providers in the Philippines is carried out under the provisions for compulsory interconnection of authorised telecoms carriers under Republic Act 7925.
In addition to Bataan and Isabela, Globe has existing interconnection agreement with its main competition in Metro Manila, Cavite, Iloilo, Batangas, Cebu, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Leyte, Davao City, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zamboanga, Laguna, Quezon, La Union, Nueva Ecija, and Benguet, General Santos/South Cotabato, Tarlac, Davao del Norte, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Zambales, Ilocos Sur, Capiz, Cagayan, Nueva Viscaya and Iloilo.