MANILA, Philippines—The top officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and of giant mobile phone providers Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. are facing a congressional inquiry for the purported suspension of call-and-text promo packages at the peak of the holiday season.

“We will have them appear before the House committees. We will move when Congress opens next year. We want to send a strong message to them,” Speaker Prospero Nograles said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Nograles was annoyed that the giant telcos appeared to have made like Scrooge and ignored an appeal to retain the call-and-text promos in order to help the public cope with the hard times.

The NTC reportedly approved last week the request of both Globe and Smart that they be allowed to suspend their offerings of unlimited calls and text messages on Dec. 23-25 and on Dec. 30-Jan. 1.

The request was ostensibly to “prevent network abuse” and to “fully optimize network capacity and maintain quality of services” during the holiday season, when Filipinos traditionally make more calls and send more text messages to family members and friends.

Nograles assailed the mobile phone providers for “milking our people at this time of economic anxiety.”

He said the move was “unreasonable” and “clearly against the Christian spirit of charity” considering that, he pointed out, even a “lowly scavenger” used a mobile phone.

NTC Commissioner Ruben Canobas could not be reached for clarification about an order stating that two particular promos were suspended for Christmas and New Year.

The consumer group Text Power could not be reached for comment as well.

No suspension

But in separate interviews Friday, Smart and Globe said they had not suspended any promos.

Smart public affairs chief Ramon Isberto said the company’s promotional “P110 text plus unli calls” from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. was “never due for implementation” on Dec. 23-25 and on Dec. 30-Jan 1, “as the mechanics of our approved application will show.”

“One reason is to avoid adding to an already high-traffic period. It would do more harm than good if we offer a promo that may not be enjoyed by subscribers on a high-volume period, especially at night. But all other promos due for implementation at this time are not suspended. For example, there is All Text 35,” Isberto said.

Globe regulatory affairs chief Carrie Gonzales likewise said that the Ayala-led company’s “Unli Nyt” promo was not for implementation on those dates.

Said Gonzales: “When we applied for the promo, it was stated there that the Christmas and New Year periods are not covered. Part of the reason is that text and call traffic is already very heavy during these periods.

“Normally, people send their greetings at night. Offering a promo that brings up night time usage may result in clogged networks, and this would be a disservice to the consumer. That’s something we want to avoid.”

Gonzales added that Globe had “other promos that are ongoing.”

“There are always a few at any given time, depending on what consumers respond to,” she said.

‘Preposterous’ profits

Nograles said the telcos continued to rake in “preposterous” profits every year.

“These promos, in the form of discounts, are actually sure-fire income and profit for the telcos. I think they should even share their blessings that continue to multiply by the day,” he said.

Nograles said that instead of suspending the promos, the telcos should make these permanent.

He said that if the “real cost of text and call services” were examined, it would be shown that “even at these rates, they are still overcharging.”

Asked to comment on the Speaker’s remark that the promos should be made permanent, Isberto said: “Consumers know that the terms get better over time as we experiment on which ones appeal to subscribers.

“Promos are targeted at various consumer segments. There is also the aspect of competition—striving to offer something better than our competitors because consumers know what they want and where they can get it.

“Promos do not harm subscribers.”

Gonzales pointed out that the NTC had issued a memorandum circular on promotional offers.

“In addition, every promo has NTC approval,” she said.

65M users

The number of mobile phone users in the country is estimated at 65 million.

According to the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. group, to which Smart belongs, Smart and its sister brand Talk N’ Text had a combined subscriber base of 34.2 million at end-September.

PLDT estimates that Smart and Talk N’ Text collectively send 500 million to 600 million text messages a day.

That means the average mobile subscriber of the PLDT group sends 15-18 text messages daily.

The group’s incoming and outgoing traffic combined is estimated at around one billion text messages a day.

Globe and Touch Mobile have a combined subscriber base of 23.7 million.

Among the highest

Earlier, Globe said its network handled 500 million to 700 million incoming and outgoing messages a day.

The NTC estimates that the Philippines’ average cellular phone user sends about 10 text messages a day.

Edgardo Cabarrios, chief of the NTC Common Carrier Division, said that estimate was “very conservative” considering the popularity of unlimited text promos.

But he added: “In terms of total volume, other countries may have higher numbers because of sheer population size. But per capita, the Philippines still has among the highest volume of text activity, if not the highest.”

He also said that when unlimited text promos were not yet popular, only an average of seven text messages were sent per person per day.