PLDT bucks IP peering, warns of slower connections

SUBSCRIBERS TO Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.’s (PLDT) Internet service could be hit with slower connections if the telco is forced to comply with a regulator’s proposal to share network infrastructure with other telcos, the firm said in a statement yesterday. “Compelling Internet service providers to connect via a single Internet exchange as proposed in the draft NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) order may create a bottleneck that could hamper rather than raise the service quality of Internet service providers,” PLDT said. “This is a case where the proposed solution may just compound the problem,” Ramon R. Isberto, PLDT spokesman, said in the statement. PLDT’s reiterated position came after Globe Telecom, Inc., San Miguel group’s broadband Internet brand Wi-tribe Telecoms, Inc., Bayan Telecommunications, Inc. and Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. all threw their support behind the state agency’s Internet protocol (IP) peering plan. The NTC draft order, if passed, will require all telcos to direct domestic traffic through a local IP exchange that will be managed by the Department of Science and Technology and the Advance Science and Technology Institute. The local interconnection is meant to lower domestic Internet rates for consumers, the NTC has said in its draft order. Shares in PLDT fell 5% to P2,244 apiece yesterday. Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld.