Consumers group: Turn off mobile phones for 1 hour

An independent consumers group is calling for an “hourlong boycott” of services of telecommunications companies.

“An hourlong ‘boycott’ by turning off of cell phones and not making any calls or sending any text messages can be our best way to make our voices be heard,” said Epee Casuncad, one of the founders of Samahan Laban sa Monopolyo (SLAM), which was formed in May this year.

Casuncad made the boycott call during a forum discussing the effects of the merger of the  Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Digitel Telecommunications Philippines Inc. to the telecommunications industry.

Casuncad said that this would be one of the best ways for the voices of the consumers to be heard by the telecommunications companies to remind them who’s the real boss.

“The merger, as what everybody thinks, is not only a business transaction but a battle of frequencies. We don’t care if they merge as two businesses. What we care about is the proper regulation of the frequencies,” he said.

“If they merge they will hold 70 percent of the frequency lines released by NTC that they can use to kill the other competition which is Globe that holds 30 percent of the lines. Once Globe is gone, what’s left is just them, then monopoly takes place,” he said.

Jess Sandow, another SLAM founder, said that the telecommunications airwaves or frequency was a public domain that should be subject to government regulation.

Sandow said it’s an important infrastructure to safeguard the people against corporate greed.

“It should not be controlled by any single company to ensure true and fair competition among the different players while the consumers’ welfare are duly protected,” Sandow said. /Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap