MANILA, The Philippines-The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has advised Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, and Digital Telecommunications (Digitel) to stop squabbling and expand customer services instead.
“Instead of bickering, cellular service providers could very well put their financial resources and profits to better use by investing these in establishing new cell sites to serve both urban and rural subscribers,” DOTC spokesman Thompson Lantion said in a statement.
The DOTC, he said, has been receiving complaints that even in urbanized areas, there are sites where no signal from any of the service providers is available.
Lantion cited the existing dispute between Digitel and Smart regarding Smart’s opposition to Digitel’s cellular license; Smart has alleged that Digitel has failed to meet the number of operational facilities for its cellular network.
The dispute has delayed the required local exchange carrier to cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) interconnection allowing each other’s subscribers to call one another instead of passing these calls through third party Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company.
