By Manny Pham
Globe Telecom hit back at rival Dito Telecommunity by requesting permission from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to sever interconnection lines until the operator pays back PHP622 million (US$11.1m) in fines, for failing to prevent fraudsters from accessing its network.
As reported yesterday, Dito chief administrative officer Adel Tamano first hit out at Globe and Smart by claiming only 20 per cent to 30 per cent of customer calls were connecting to rival networks. A claim Globe denied, stating interconnection is “existing and it is working”.
Globe said in a statement, that Dito is violating an interconnection agreement between the operators by refusing to pay the PHP622 million it allegedly owes Globe, for allowing fraudulent calls through its network and opening risks for its customers. The company has denied Dito’s claim it is using the debt as a “ruse” to hamper interconnectivity.
The operator called for the NTC to “temporarily disconnect the interconnection trunk lines” due to the consistent fraudulent calls passing from Dito to Globe’s network.
Globe Group general counsel Froilan Castelo said: “These illegal calls clog the network to the detriment of our customers. We need to take utmost caution as ISR (international simple resale) calls also carry the risk of exposing our customers to vishing or voice call scams.”
“This is a clear violation of Article 10.1 of our interconnection agreement with DITO, which defines bypass as ‘activity, whether undertaken unilaterally by a party, or jointly by a party and its subscriber, or a third party, that deprives a party its due compensation for traffic terminated or routed to its network.”
Dito chief administrative officer Adel Tamano responded stating Globe’s demand for fine payments was an admission that the operator is hampering interconnection, reported the Philippines News Agency.
“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 calls,” said Tamano.
