Stupid NTC

[Gomi]

two weeks ago my friend was asked by the NTC (national telecommunications commision) to get a permit for his usb bluetooth dongle in his internet cafe. my friend became a little confused and immediately sent me an sms if this was for real. i told him low power transmitting devices do not need clearance.

a week later my fave netopia branch informed me that they turn off their airborne wap since they needed a permit for the wifi device.

ok... i of course insisted that they turn the thing on... customer always right diba?

then guess what? just today i was being asked to get a permit for both my bluetooth dongle and wireless access point by an obviously clueless ntc agent. told him nicely that low power transmission devices do not need permits, if i were running an illegal radio station then that would need a permit.

he insisted. holy kamote!

i got peeved and just told him straight off that if the ntc insisted on me getting a permit, they should ask everybody in baguio who has a cellphone, microwave oven and cordless phone to do the same, explaining that cellphones are even stronger transmitting devices than my bluetooth dongle. duh! the ntc should be the one to know these things better than i do.

jeez... this is just such a stupid policy, i cant even decide if i should be laughing or cursing. i believe the us fcc has a similar policy with the distinct difference of clear guidlelines of power output, which is fair. the ntc obviously has its head up its proverbial bottom. :dead:

[suigeneris]

I agree with you on the whole "NTC-doesn't-know-what-it's-talking-about" rant. I'm currently writing a thesis regarding the NTC's failure to regulate SMS and mobile services. They're literally giving TelCos a free hand on what to do with such services with minimal regulation, considering that every Pinoy even the C and D class use text as a means for communications. It's sad really how they can have such lackadaisical attitude in the performance of their regulatory duties.

[loko__loko]

hmmm...

hope those ntc agents wont find out that my phones has bluetooth; my laptop has wifi and bt

[jerrytieng]

I think this has to do with rules and regulations that poorly defines what commercial use means. If I remember right, if the device's transmitting radius stays indoors, then it's okay not to get a permit.

So I suppose that that overzealous NTC agent must have been wardriving around baguio and picking up splatter from your wifi devices from the street.

I believe that NTC should follow the FCC example of declaring the frequencies used by wifi and bluetooth devices as a 'free' band for everybody's use, instead of defining commercial and non-commercial use based on the transmitting radius of the device.

[mistermoya]

The NTC's policies have been a big factor in my decision of investing in a WIFI company. The business model and everything is okay but my consultants are wary about how the NTC will treat wifi now that it's picking up here in the country. What if they start regulating it in favor of bigger telcos that are slowly entering the wifi scene. Are there clear-cut guidelines to this already?

[Dave_D]

NTC's failure to regulate SMS and mobile services

My 2 cents,

If that's your thesis, good luck defending it.

While I'm not exactly 100% behind the NTC, there have been progress as compared to the 70's and mid-80's.

These come to mind;

- Telco monopoly revoked.
- SAS (Service Area Scheme) increased the number of fixed lines that were previously unserved. I don't think you were around when PLDT lines were still being sold for Php 30,000 / line from corrupt linemen as getting a landline back then took 2-3 years.

In the area of mobile services, I can hardly call the NTC a failure with 3 major carriers with 2 of them having nationwide coverage.

We're actually lucky the NTC caught the ball during the early days of SMS and did the following;

a. Exempt SMS from taxation
b. Make it illegal for SMS spam. By contrast the minute I get a signal in HK/SG, I would get tons of SMS spam from their carriers.

My point is, a blanket statement that the NTC is a failure is gonna be hard to prove my young apprentice as I have been working in the data/voice telecomm biz for the past decade. Although the public at large may seem to think nothing is being done, there is something being done. As to the pace, this cannot be helped as there is a very public process that must be followed in terms of hearings and consultative assemblies which all takes time.

Case in point, the issue of VOIP has taken 10 years but finally the NTC has agreed that the service is finally being allowed for VAS players.

Sure the NTC has a lot more to do, but like everything in government, it takes time effort and lots of hearings.

[notarius]

Originally posted by Dave_D

NTC's failure to regulate SMS and mobile services

While I'm not exactly 100% behind the NTC, there have been progress as compared to the 70's and mid-80's.

These come to mind;

- Telco monopoly revoked.

xx xx xx

The NTC does not get credit for demonopolization of the telco industry. This is FVR having the political will to break-up a monopoly and implement the decision of the Supreme Court in Eastern Telecom Philippines, Inc. (ETPI) v. PLDT.

[hubes]

This issue has been around since 2003. In fact, it was one of the issues that my cousin faced when he was preparing his project study for a service similar to Mobil/Exxon's Speedpass. Although instead of RFID his service would be using Bluetooth. Anyway, here's the National Telecommunication Commission's Memorandum Circular No. 09-09-2003 that has a direct bearing on the above-mentioned topic.

[tweek]

http://www.inq7.net/inf/2003/aug/19/text/inf_1-1-p.htm

[Edited on 7-23-2005 by tweek]

[Kenneth]

Originally posted by jerrytieng
I believe that NTC should follow the FCC example of declaring the frequencies used by wifi and bluetooth devices as a 'free' band for everybody's use, instead of defining commercial and non-commercial use based on the transmitting radius of the device.

I believe there's another problem being that Meralco bought exclusive rights to using the WiFi frequency, or something like that. I read this about 2 years ago, I don't know if its still in effect.