Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. retaliated to an anti-competitive behavior complaint of DITO Telecommunity Corp. as it asked the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Tuesday to compel the third telco to pay a whopping P622 million over its alleged failure to comply with interconnection deals.
Globe said Tuesday the penalty was for the alleged fraudulent calls placed through DITO’s network to Globe, bypassing proper voice traffic channels from July 2021 to July 2022. The Daily Tribune reached out to the NTC for confirmation of Globe’s letter but the agency failed to respond as of press time.
“An average of 1,000 fraudulent calls — identified as international in origin but masked as local calls — were supposedly allowed to pass through DITO’s network to Globe users every day, in violation of interconnection rules,” Globe said in a statement sent to media on Tuesday.
“DITO’s twin failures to check these bypass activities and pay Globe what it is justly due have worked on a continuing serious prejudice against Globe. Moreover, these unabated activities have placed the interconnection trunks at serious risk of abuse and the resultant undue congestion of the network, to the detriment of the subscribers.”
Globe’s statement came a day after DITO Telecommunity filed separate cases against it and rival PLDT Inc. over supposed “abuse of dominant position” that hinders the third telco’s growth.
Not from DITO
In response, DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano reiterated that the calls in question “are not made by DITO.”
“These are fraudulent calls made by third parties — and DITO is equally a victim of such calls. Additionally, there are also ISR calls from Globe to DITO. It is not true that DITO has not taken steps to stop ISR calls to Globe. We have the data and the facts to show the steps undertaken by DITO to minimize these ISR (International Simple Resale) calls,” Tamano said.
“Fourthly, giving due respect to the NTC, it is not a collection agency and if Globe has any monetary claims against DITO, Globe should go to the proper tribunal to enforce its claims,” he added.
Amid the squabble, Globe said it remains “true to its interconnectivity deals with DITO, including domestic voice and SMS in November 2020, landline in March 2021, and the Cellular Mobile Telephone Systems International Gateway Facility in September 2021.”
Under the Republic Act 7925, the agreements allow local voice and text traffic to pass between users of the two networks, and also international mobile calls through DITO’s and Globe’s international partners or via roaming service.