NTC to pursue ICT projects despite return to DOTC

By Alexander Villafania, INQ7.net


AFTER being returned to its previous parent agency, the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications) the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) promised to continue reviewing and issuing regulations on information and communications technology.

The DOTC is also said to have promised the NTC non-interference in its mandate as regulatory body for the telecommunications industry

NTC Deputy Commissioner Jorge Sarmiento told INQ7 that the agency is already lining up several new regulatory proposals on Internet content and software application development, enhancement of the existing wireless fidelity (Wi-fi) regulation they have released, and rules on the use of short range radio devices, commonly called radio frequency identification

We’re hoping that some of these proposals will go to public hearings soon so that we could keep up with the speed of technological change. We’re aligning the NTC’s vision to improve the quality of service of the telecommunications industry and we’re talking to the providers and consumers on how to ensure that this is realized

We’ve also been promised by (DOTC Secretary Leandro) Mendoza that we’re still going to operate as a separate entity from the DOTC,” Sarmiento said. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed executive order 454 last August 15, effectively transferring the NTC back to the DOTC from the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

The NTC was previously moved to the CICT as part of a larger plan to turn the latter into a Department of Communications Technology. The EO’s sudden release surprised both the NTC and CICT since Arroyo neither mentioned an intention to return the NTC to the DOTC nor explain why after she did so.

As Stated

DATE : August 25, 2005

TO : HON. EDWIN J. PIANO
Chairman, Committee on Information Technology

FROM : HON. ROLEN C. PAULINO
Vice-Mayor and Presiding Officer

SUBJECT : As Stated


This is to assign the Committee on Information Technology to spearhead the investigation regarding the indiscriminate use of internet lines, allegedly for “cyber-sex”, in the Sangguniang Panlungsod, within and beyond office hours including Saturdays and Sundays. The said matter/concern published in different tabloids this week placed City to a very bad light.

Your immediate and comprehensive report to include other departments of the City under investigation and recommended action on this regard is absolutely necessary.

50 Channel Portable Scanner

 

50 Channels - You can program each of these memory channels to store one frequency.

11 Bands - Mine into 800 MHz, police, fire, public service bands, "Ham" bands, federal, military, weather and more.

5 Banks - Allows you to group similar frequencies for selectively scanning these groups. 

Full-Frequency LCD Display- Shows the channels being scanned and the frequency entered into each channel.

One-Touch Weather - Automatically scans all national weather service frequencies with the touch of a button. 

Band Search - This feature allows you to toggle through 10 bands plus 800 MHz for easy searching.

Channel Lockout - Lockout unused or busy channels to concentrate on specific channels. 

Memory Backup - Retains your frequency programming for 3 days without AC power. 

Battery-Low Indicator - LCD " BATT " icon appears when battery is low. 

Keypad Lock - Allows you to lock the keypad to prevent accidental programming. 

Built-In Scan Delay - When activated on a channel, it allows time for a reply on the same channel before resuming to scan.

Manual Channel Access - Go directly to any channel without stepping through other channels.  

Track Tuning - This feature gives you perfect tuning on every channel for crystal clear reception. 

AC/DC Operation - The BC 80XLT operates with an AC adapter (included) or 4 standard AA alkaline or optional Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries.

Frequency Guide Included - The BC 80XLT comes with a Betty Bearcat Starter Frequency Guide for USA and Canada

BC80XLT
50 Channel Portable
Scanner with Weather
50 Channels  / 11 Bands
29-956 MHz
Check It Out..... $149.95

Santiago warns against cybersex operations

LEGAZPI CITY:  NPC Rep. Joseph Santiago of Catan-duanes has urged local governments nationwide to reinforce their supervision of Internet and computer shops to put in check establishments that could possibly be fronting for illicit cybersex operations. “Local governments have direct and immediate oversight of all business establishments within their jurisdiction.  So the burden is on them, to see to it that shops in their areas are not violating laws against obscenity, pornography and child abuse,” Santiago said. Santiago earlier bared that over 200,000 Filipinos—women, men and possibly even children—have been lured by cybersex operators based on the registry of one popular website peddling sexual activities via the Internet. Local government surveillance should cover not just Internet joints but also other shops that offer computer-related services, the sale of computers and peripherals as well as the repair of computers, said Santiago, former chief of the National Telecommunications Commission. “There could possibly be computer shops out there, not necessarily Internet joints, that are engaged in cybersex activities.  All that is needed to engage in the nefarious trade is a computer, a web camera and an Internet connection,” he pointed out. “So a shop supposedly selling computers by day could possibly be secretly into cybersex operations at night,” he added. In cybersex, or virtual sex, sexual acts are performed by men and women, and even children, before remotely connected web cameras that stream images directly to the computers of paying Internet users. In Angeles City, which the National Police has classified as a cybersex hotspot, at least 10 dens have been busted this year. Just last week, the police raided another den in the city’s Barangay Balibago, where six women employed as cybersex models were rescued. Nabbed in the August 22 raid was an American national, 66-year-old James Paul Kelly, the alleged maintainer of the den.  Kelly’s alleged accomplice, a Canadian named Dave Fischer, evaded arrest

 

Visit  http://subicbay.ph

NTC wants to open 3G to new players

By EMMIE V. ABADILLA, MB

Telecom regulators threw out the prior operator rule and refused to require new players applying for Third Generation (3G) technology licenses to roll out wirelines in the outrageously expensive way that existing providers did.

With the low demand for wirelines or Local Exchange (LEC), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) insisted it cannot subject new 3G operators to" the same obligations for universal service imposed on current Cellular Mobile Telephone System (CMTS) operators employing the Second Generation (2G) system."

Instead of individual telephone land lines, new 3G players can put up public calling offices (PCOs) and telecenters in unserved municipalities and barangays. Their rollout obligation will not be "as financially taxing as before," NTC stated in the latest draft of its 3G allocation guidelines.

Existing operators cannot say "there is no uniformity on vying CMTS entities," according to NTC.

The guideline for universal access requires establishing PCOs in unserved areas. The Department of Transportation and Communications approved the guideline when NTC was still its attached agency and continues to be in effect, Commissioner Ronald Olivar Solis pointed out.

NTC also believes that P400 million would be enough to cover the initial cost of a prospective 3G operator. Imposing higher capital requirements would be too financially burdensome for applicants. Earlier, a CMTS operator estimated that one needs to invest US$1.2 billion to get into 3G.

Furthermore, the commission maintains that "there is absolutely no basis for the continued insistence of current CMTS operators on the applicability of the prior operator rule in the award of 3G licenses and frequencies."

While regulators require proof of track record in the operation of mobile telecommunications systems, particularly of 3G networks, present 2G operators are not necessarily at a disadvantage, according to NTC.

The requirement does not necessarily exclude experience in operating 2G networks. Current CMTS providers may also form strategic partnerships with foreign 3G operators.

Existing CMTS players fear that the provisions on mandatory network sharing and roaming may allow 3G operators who have not fully complied with their network rollout to hook up with the network of 2G operators as well as that of a 3G operator which has successfully rolled out its own 3G network.

NTC is requiring 3G networks to have mandatory interconnection with all public networks, including trunk radio networks.

However, NTC’s requiring 3G licensees to "begin the installation and construction of the 3G network and facilities not later that 12 months from date of award," "start commercial operation not later than thirty (30) months from date of award," and "cover at least 80% of the provincial capital cities and towns and 80% of the chartered cities within sixty (60) months from the date of award" should be sufficient safeguards to this kind of mischief.

NTC has also revised its guideline so that before an operator can have mandatory network sharing and roaming, he should first construct his 3G network. The latter is a condition for the former.

The Commission likewise shortened the time frame for operators to submit their schedule of rates from five years to two years.

Assessment of the spectrum user fees (SUF) will be based on profitability of each 3G operator, based on the number of their subscribers

 

 

Visit  http://subicbay.ph

An Original Volunteer is the new SBMA Administrator

Volunteers are all-out in support of the President's appointment of the new SBMA Administrator Armand Areza who will replace Freddie Antonio who resigned in order to transfer to Philippine Monetary Board.  Areza is one of the 8,000 original Subic Volunteers who have shown his dedication to ensure the success of Subic.

 

The resignation of Licuanan with some quarter's insinuation that Gordon (who is known to be close to Areza) will gain control over Subic Freeport is baseless and unfair, according to Balikatan Ladies.  It is only proper for the President to appoint to a position somebody who really cares and is knowledgable of the institution.

 

Olongapo residents supports the President's appointment of Areza and is grateful in her recognition and appreciation  of the volunteers' sacrifices.

 

http://subicbaynews.blogspot.com/

 

Visit SubicBay, Philippines website for latest developments in Subic Bay and Olongapo City

---

Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page

Information Society summit slated in Manila

By Erwin Lemuel Oliva, INQ7.net

THE COMMISSION on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) will host a Philippine summit on the Information Society next month in Manila.

The summit hopes to gather inputs to create a strategic national consensus on Internet Governance, which will be presented at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis on November 2005, the CICT said.

It also seeks to generate an action plan for building a sustainable Philippine Information Society.

The summit is supported by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Philippine Electronics and Telecommunications Federation, and Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines.

The summit is scheduled on September 9, 2005 at the Grand Ballroom of the Manila Hotel. About 300 participants from government, academe, private sector, and civil society from 16 regions are expected to attend

 

http://subicbay.ph

Telco group to meet NTC on new VOIP, 3G rules

By Alexander Villafania, INQ7.net


THE PHILIPPINE Electronics and Telecommunications Federation (PETEF) is set to meet the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Tuesday to discuss the effects of the regulatory body’s latest ruling on voice-over IP (VOIP), 3G, and broadband wireless access (BWA).

PETEF said in a recently released statement that it is meeting the NTC in Fort Bonifacio to discuss the new rulings as well as how PETEF members would pursue their business with the new rulings.

The group responded to the three new rulings of NTC on VOIP, 3G, and broadband wireless access. The NTC has defined VOIP as a value-added service, a term that the major telecommunications carriers -- incidentally, all members of PETEF -- have argued against.

The NTC has also identified several cellular frequencies for 3G on mobile telecommunications. The 3G ruling specifies the cost for using any of the identified 3G frequencies.

The ruling on the BWA also specified several radio frequencies to be used for wireless Internet, which is expected to pave the way for more powerful wireless access through Wi-fi (wireless fidelity) and the upcoming WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) standard.

Among those attending the public meeting are PETEF Directors Nestor Virata and Albert Velasco, NTC Deputy Commissioner Jorge Sarmiento, and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Vice-President George Lim.

The agenda calls for the reasons for the NTC’s release of the new rulings, procedures for the migration of telecommunications carriers from traditional infrastructure to Internet protocol, and convergence issues.

PETEF is the umbrella organization of various industry associations, corporations, and individuals involved in electronics, telecommunications, information and communications technology, cable, and broadcasting.

Its members include, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, BayanTel, Digitel, the Electronics Industry Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Cable Television Association, among others.

 

 

Visit  http://subicbay.ph