Globe Telecom files raps vs 2 Singaporeans, 2 Pinoys

By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
The Philippine Star

Globe Telecom has filed criminal charges against two Singaporean nationals and their two Filipino employees for the unauthorized resale of international voice calls which deprive the company of over P1 million in potential revenues per month.

Charged with violating Article 318 of the Revised Penal Code or the Anti-Access Device Law were Yong Fok Cheong aka Norman Yong, William Yong aka William Yeung, Raymong Naka, and Ramy Lozada. All of the suspects except for Yeung are now under police custody.

The suspects were apprehended during a raid at their office in Rooms 43 and 34, Leelin Building, Pasong Tamo Ave., Makati City, by a task group composed of personnel from Globe’s legal, technical (fraud), and security departments as well as those from the PNP-CIDG.

The raid led to the discovery of several units of electronic equipment which were utilized to connect calls from other countries to local landline customers using postpaid cellular phone lines from Globe but without passing through the switching facilities of licensed operators.

Seized items such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) equipment are temporarily stored at PND-CIDG pending disposition of the court.

The GSM equipment alone can accommodate 128 Globe SIM cards every one-and-a-half hours. Globe Autoload Max SIM cars were also used in the illegal international simple resale (ISR) operations.

ISR is a method of routing and completing international long distance calls using lines, cables, antennae, and/or air wave frequency which connect directly to the local or domestic exchange facilities of the country where the call is destined.

However, instead of using the SIM (subscriber identification module) cards on their mobile phones, the suspects insert the SIM cards into a GSM equipment connected to switching facilities and routers.

By using such equipment together with VoIP gateways to bypass Globe switches, the group undermined the viability of Globe’s network by not paying the latter right compensation.

Telecom companies like Globe, together with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) are relentlessly pursuing such illegal operations and have already invested on highly advanced radio equipment capable of monitoring suspicious call traffic which they, in turn, investigate and take appropriate action.

For several years now, the NTC has been leading the fight against ISR and other forms of illegal uncompensated bypass due to its harmful effects on the industry, the government, and the telephone subscribers.

By disguising international calls as local calls, telecom companies and the government are defrauded of millions of pesos in revenues since users of the service are exempt from paying toll charges