REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Resolution No . 1093

Introduced by Kabataan Party-List Representative Raymond V. Palatino

A RESOLUTION
DIRECTING THE COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY TO CONDUCT AN INQUIRY, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, ON THE
CONTINUED CLASSIFICATION OF MOBILE AND BROADBAND INTERNET
SERVICES AS A VALUE ADDED SERVICE EFFECTIVELY JUSTIFYING THE
DEREGULATION AND LACK OF MINIMUM SERVICE STANDARDS ON SUCH
SERVICES
1
WHEREAS , the Public Telecommunications Act of 1995 (PTA) is the law that governs the
telecommunications industry in the Philippines ;
WHEREAS , the PTA introduces the concept of “value added service” (VAS) which is defined as
“an entity which relying on the transmission, switching and local distribution facilities of the local
exchange and inter-exchange operators, and overseas carriers, offers enhanced services beyond those
ordinarily provided for by such carriers”;
WHEREAS , the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the PTA defines “enhanced
services” as “a service which adds a feature or value not ordinarily provided by a public
telecommunications entity such as format, media conversion, encryption, enhanced security features,
computer processing, and the like” ;
WHEREAS , there is “an implicit recognition that VAS is not strictly a public service offering in
the way that voice-to-voice lines are... but merely supplementary to the basic service,” and that “ultimately,
the regulatory attitude of the State towards VAS offerings by [public telecommunications entities] is to
treat its provisioning as a 'business decision' subject to the discretion of the offeror, so long as such services
do not interfere with mandatory public service requirements”;
WHEREAS , the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is the government agency
with the task of overseeing and regulating the telecommunications industry in the country;
WHEREAS , because of the dynamic nature of the telecommunications industry with the quick
development of inventions and innovations ever since the enactment of the PTA and its IRR in 1995, it is

1 Republic Act 7925

 necessary for the NTC to continuously promulgate issuances that address present conditions and needs by
consumers with regard to telecommunication services;
WHEREAS , at present, the NTC continues to classify mobile and broadband internet merely as
VAS despite the development of internet technologies and infrastructure and its growing role in the lives of
people;
WHEREAS , telecommunications companies continue to insist that mobile and broadband
internet services are VAS, and in a statement by the Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators
(PCTO) 2 they assert that, “requiring the providers of such service [to] specify their minimum connection
speed, service reliability, service level and service rates would amount to regulating the same,” and that,
“in keeping with broadband access services' true character as value-added service, we respectfully submit
that broadband service providers be allowed to retain present setup where no minimum service standard is
required,”;
WHEREAS , from how the PTA and its IRR defines VAS, it is clear that mobile and broadband
internet services are no longer merely “enhanced services” but are already one of the primary means of
communication by the people and must be considered as one of telecommunication companies' main
services;
WHEREAS , in fact, telecommunications companies offer mobile and broadband internet
services separately from its basic CMTS (Cellular Mobile Telephone System) and other core voice
communication services;
WHEREAS , consumers have long been complaining of substandard mobile and broadband
internet services and have thus demanded that minimum standards be set by the government through the
NTC;
WHEREAS , the continued classification of mobile and broadband internet services as VAS has
continuously been used by the NTC and telecommunications companies to challenge any demand and
attempt to set reasonable standards on internet services;
1 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED , that the
2 Committee on Information and Communications Technology conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on
3 the continued classification of mobile and internet services as “value added service” effectively justifying
4 the deregulation and the lack of minimum service standards on such services;

Adopted,

HON. RAYMOND V. PALATINO

Representative, Kabataan Party-list

2 “Minimum broadband speed to violate NTC rules: service providers,” Business World, January 14, 2011