BusinessNlirnor
House illwidensNTC's
By JovEE MARrE N. DELACrnUZ
HOUSE deputyspeaker is pushing
forthe passage of abill, whichseela
to provide "enforcement teeth"
to the National Telecommunications
In House Bill4886, DeputySpeak-
erMikee L. Romero ofL-Pacman, said
his proposal sets the parameters of
a new public telecommupications
policyprogram andup date a24-y eat -
oldlawwithan entirely new section
on penaltiqs and sanctions.
t munications Policy Act, enacted
@joveemarie
The bilLseeks to improve com-
pliance among pub)ic telecommu-
iication entities and expand the
NTC's control and capability as a
regul4tor.
Romero poinLedoutthat Repu b
lic Ac t 7925, orthe Pubjic Telecom-
Thursday, October fO,
in March 1995 is the prevailing
telecom policy.
"My bill amends R$ 7925 with a
whole set of law-enfolcement teeth
because the 1995law does nothave
penaltyprovisions and no means to
hold erring entities andpeople liable
for wrongdoing and not doing wheir
they should have acted decisively,"
Romero said.
According to Romero, the mea-
sure gives power to NTC to impose
a penalty of at least P1 million fpr
every day of violation against erring
telcos.
Underthe bill, NTC is given pow-
ers to order refunds to consumers.
"The current framework is also
inadequatemainlybecauseitisbased
rot, f[
on a 20th-century orientationbeing
applied to 21st-century situations.
Urgent needs are also unaddressed,
such as much better competition,
consumer protection and industrY
regulation," Romero said.
"We have only three maior tele-
com players and dozens of bit play-
ers. We have a number of unused
spectrum frequencies. The spectrum
policy has been described by some
experts as 'a mess.'The countryhas
thousands of telecom deadspots na-
tionwide," Romero said.
According to Romero, "the Phil-
ippines cannot truly be a middle-
income economy without a modern
and adapting telecoms sector sen/ing
the growing needs of over 109 mil-
Iion Filipinos."
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