CEBU, Philippines - While other countries are already operating through an all IT service, it would still take three to five years for the Philippines to fully embrace an all IT base service, which is the foundation in establishing a Barring of Outgoing International Calls (BOIC) network, said Ramon Isberto, public affairs group head of Smart Communications.
Isberto said it would still take a longer time for the Philippines since it is a new kind of system and it still needs to be studied. BOIC is a cellular supplementary service, that when invoked sets flags in the network databases to stop a subscriber making international calls.
“In the case of the Philippines , it will take a little longer and more work to do when it comes to facilities and familiarity of the whole thing.”
According to Isberto, through an all IT network, low costs would be possible and more services would be offered.
But he said that the conversion would not be easy and the procedures would need to be thoroughly experienced in order to have a smooth operation.
“We just don’t change the network, we need to learn how to run it and it will take a little bit longer and more work to do when it comes to the facilities,” he added.
However, he said that both the cable and the wireless services are moving toward this but said that there would be a gradual process in the conversion to an all IT base service. He said that the question is not on the government’s support for the conversion but on the training that needs to be gone through for the new service.
He said though that they could definitely offer more services with an all IT base service which helps them do such with lower costs.
This would help them strengthen their revenue streams as well as come up with new ones. He said that there are some pilot areas with IT places where they are testing this already.
“We need to make investments but we need to see that the investments are supported by revenues,” he added.Source: The Freeman Cebu
