New backbone facility to boost
competition in telecom sector
By Anthony O. Alcantara

THE PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. is expected to face strong competition from its rivals as the $70-million backbone facility of Telecoms Infrastructure Corp. of the Philippines recently started commercial operations.

Telicphil is a consortium of PLDT's rival telephone companies. It put up the backbone facility to service the requirements of its member-firms and boost their competitiveness particularly in the area of national long distance services.

Called the National Digital Transmission Network, the 2,762-kilometer fiber optic backbone facility becomes the only alternative to the existing backbone owned by PLDT.

''Having another telecommunications network operating in the country ensures competition in the industry and competition means better efficiency, lower prices and better services to the public,'' said Telicphil in a statement.

At present, local telecom firms have 30-40-30 revenue sharing arrangement in the transmission of calls throughout the country. Under the system, 30 percent of the revenue from a national long distance call goes to the transmitting carrier, 40 percent to the operator of the backbone and 30 percent to the receiving carrier. This means that under this setup, PLDT usually gets 70 percent of the national long distance market, since it owned the only backbone facility before Telicphil set up the NDTN.

PLDT also had the largest landline subscriber lease in the country.

During the inauguration of the NDTN last Monday, Transportation and Communications Secretary Vicente C. Rivera Jr. said the government welcomed this development in the local telecommunications industry.

''The realization of the NDTN ensures that there is a viable and vibrant competition in the telecommunications industry which will promote efficiency, better services and lower prices for the general public,'' said Rivera.

The NDTN has a 2.5-gigabit transmission capacity which could handle 180,000 simultaneous calls. With its high bandwidth capacity, the fiber optic network is perfect not only for handling call traffic but also data traffic.

The network spans from Cuyapo, Isabela, in the north to Cagayan de Oro in the south. There are three segments for the network; the microwave radio segment, the submarine fiber optic segment and the land optic segment.

Telicphil is composed of Bayan Telecommunications Inc., Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom, Express Telecommunication Inc., Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. and Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp.