The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is finalizing a draft memorandum circular that seeks to prevent property developers from limiting their residents’ access to a single or in-house internet service provider (ISP).
In a media briefing on Thursday, PCC Commissioner Johannes R. Bernabe said the agency is hoping to jointly issue the said circular with other regulatory agencies engaged in property development and information and communication technologies.
“So, this memorandum circular will provide for the kind of competitive selection process like mechanism that would ensure that there are no exclusivity arrangements and if there are in extraordinary circumstances, that this would not be down to the disadvantage of consumers,” he said.
Bernabe said the PCC has received nearly 100 complaints related to property developers limiting the entry of ISPs.
The competition watchdog has issued enforcement advisory letters to 13 developers in response, he said.
Majority or 8 of these developers have agreed to voluntarily comply with the advisory, with Bernabe saying they committed to correcting their practices which were found to be anti-competitive.
One of the recipients is in the process of “trying to comply,” the PCC official said, while the remaining four “may proceed to further investigation by the enforcement office given that they don’t seem to be inclined to rectify their anti-competitive behavior.”
“So on both tracks, both on an enforcement track as well as on an advocacy track in terms of trying to come up with regulation or a regulatory framework to forestall the continued practice of exclusivity arrangements, the commission is actively involved in ensuring that those practices are sufficiently regulated,” Bernabe said.
Last year, the PCC said its ISP Task Force is looking into complaints from consumers living in condominiums, subdivisions and other property developments as owners had put up exclusive internet deals.
Homeowners from Cerritos Heights subdivision in Bacoor, Cavite raised their concerns about the exclusive internet deals last year. Before this, Urban Deca Homes Manila Condominium Corp. was also in hot water for the same reason and was ordered to pay a P27.11-million fine in 2019.
“The PCC understands the importance of having the power of choice for consumers and fair competition among operators in the market of ISPs, especially in light of online work, studies, and communication amid the pandemic,” the antitrust agency said in an earlier statement.