Telecom bill faces another review

A new round of review on legislation regulating the local telecommunication sector has begun after the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications solicited inputs from both the businesses and government agencies.

HB 12-6, otherwise known as the Commonwealth Telecommunications Act, has cleared the lower house following a four-month review by its PUTC committee chaired by Rep. Rosiky F. Camacho.

Some members of the House opposed the measure as they agreed with the Micronesian Telephone Company — the sole domestic phone service provider in the CNMI — that the proposed regulatory body would only hamper growth of the local telecommunication industry, instead of wooing more investors.

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez, who chairs the PUTC, has sent letters to companies and government agencies, including the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, to gather their views on the legislation. They have until June 30 to submit the comments.

“I would like to address all the concerns brought up during discussion of the bill in the House before we vote on it,” he told in an interview yesterday.

One of the concerns coming from consumers, according to the senator, is the decision of MTC to charge directory assistance service .

Mr. Villagomez said making its subscribers pay for 411 calls may not be right at this time since the local phone book is not updated and some of the new numbers have not been printed.

MTC General David Roger had justified the decision to the need to discourage subscribers for making the call as the phone company used to receive 4,500 inquiries every day because of the fact that it was free.

Since May 1 when the 25 cent-per-call charge took effect, the workload of MTC’s directory assistance service has dipped dramatically.

Mr. Camacho, who sponsored HB 12-6 in the 12th Legislature, had also cited such action as one of the reasons for pushing the creation of the five-man telecommunications commission in the Commonwealth.

But Mr. Villagomez disagreed with his stance that long-distance carriers have failed to penetrate the local market because of MTC’s hold of the business.

He said the Telecommunications Act of 1996 had effectively deregulated the industry and allowed other players, including IT&E, to offer cheaper long-distance rates to consumers.

“There are legitimate concerns that we need to consider in reviewing this bill. I want to make sure that we do not ignore the position of other sectors in the community,” added Mr. Villagomez.

Mr. Camacho earlier has appealed to his Senate counterpart to pass the measure which is similar to three proposals introduced since 1997 in an effort to comply with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

One measure was passed by the lower house, but pushed to the back burner by the Senate.
During the previous Legislature, then PUTC chair, Rep. David M. Apatang who led the opposition against Mr. Camacho’s bill, did not act on the two measures.

Under HB 12-6, the commission will have the responsibility to regulate the sector as well as to establish guidelines, including rates and fees.

Although CUC was given the mandate to regulate the telecom sector under Public Law 4-47, it has not been able to do so due to limited staff and technical expertise.