The Philippines’ two pioneering telecom firms, Globe and PLDT’s wireless unit Smart, hit back at new industry player DITO after it filed a complaint against the two firms for their alleged anti-trust practices.
According to reports, Globe also asked the local telecom regulator to allow its “temporary disconnection” of interconnection trunk lines with DITO until it resolves all alleged illegal bypass operations coming from its network and until it pays Globe all existing charges for what it says are fraudulent calls.
Smart meanwhile said in a statement that DITO’s complaint was “baseless” and denied that they are in any way involved in anti-trust activities against DITO.
A day before Globe’s move, DITO filed with the Philippine Competition Commission two separate complaints against Smart and Globe. It accused them both of abusing their market dominance by imposing interconnection barriers, resulting in low interconnection for calls made by DITO subscribers to Globe and Smart.
The Philippine Competition Commission said in a statement, “Our Competition Enforcement Office (CEO) is now evaluating the merits of Dito’s complaints. The Commission has 10 days within which to decide whether or not to give due course to the complaint. If given due course, our CEO will proceed to investigate the charges and if it subsequently finds sufficient basis, file with the Commission en banc a Statement of Objections against the allegedly erring entities. The PCC shall also consult with the National Telecommunications Commission for related regulatory concerns.”