FOREIGN businesses on Sunday appealed to senators to pass a bill that will open up the data-transmission industry to more players by removing barriers to entry and prohibiting anticompetitive practices.
Legislators were urged by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) to approve Senate Bill (SB) 1763 before they go on break for the midterm polls in May. Authored by Sens. Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV and Sherwin T. Gatchalian, the measure will lift barriers to entry, including the certificate of public convenience, in the data- transmission industry.
“The Open Access in Data Transmission bill [SB 1763] aims to improve access, affordability and quality of data-transmission services, such as the Internet, by lowering barriers to entry and leveling the playing field for a more diverse set of service providers, promoting the sharing of infrastructure and resources,” the JFC said in a statement with civil society groups.
“The Open Access [in Data Transmission] bill will provide a clear and appropriate regulatory framework for data services consistent with how the Internet works—decentralized, distributed and redundant. It clarifies and strengthens the role of [the] National Telecommunications Commission [NTC] in the broadband and digital age, which existing laws do not provide for,” the statement read.
Under SB 1763, the four segments of data transmission—international gateway, core network, middle mile and last mile—shall be competitive and open.
Data-transmission players will not be required to secure from the NTC a certificate of public convenience and necessity or provisional authority, nor a congressional franchise, to build, install and operate networks for the services they provide. SB 1763 will also grant industry participants direct access to any satellite with a Philippine footprint.
They, however, will be mandated to register with the NTC to state the segment they are participating in and indicate their schedule of rates.
The bill will also penalize anticompetitive practices, such as the refusal to plug and play, paid prioritization, throttling, refusal to provide information and cross subsidization, in a bid to create an environment conducive to competition and for new entry players. Violators can face a penalty of up to P5 million daily until they fully comply.
“We believe the Open Access in Data Transmission bill is a reform that will not only make the telecommunications and data-services sectors more dynamic, but will also improve the country’s competitiveness as it prepares for the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” the statement read.
The House of Representatives approved their version of the bill in 2017. SB 1763, however, is far from reaching the Senate plenary, as it is pending second reading.
In his sponsorship speech in March of last year, Aquino said his measure will open up all the layers of data transmission to more players with the objective of improving the quality and lowering the cost of Internet in the Philippines.
“We need to dispel the idea that a single company or only a limited few can provide services in all of these four segments [of data transmission]. Different companies in different segments should be encouraged to enter our market and interconnect, so we can enjoy improved Internet services,” Aquino said.