NTC MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 19-12-2004, December 09, 2004

[ NTC MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 19-12-2004, December 09, 2004 ]

SERVICE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES AND WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

WHEREAS the growth and development of telecommunications services is essential to the economic development, integrity and security of the Philippines;

WHEREAS the National Telecommunications Commission (Commission) is mandated by law to ensure quality, safety, reliability, security, compatibility and inter-operability of telecommunications facilities and services in conformity with standards and specifications set by international radio and telecommunications organizations to which the Philippines is a signatory;

WHEREAS, in order to protect the interest of the consumers the Commission shall exact from public telecommunications entities compliance with service standards;

WHEREAS, quality of service performance comparable to neighboring countries is required to make the Philippines globally competitive;

THEREFORE, the Commission pursuant to RA7925 (Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995) and EO546 series of 1979 hereby prescribes, for strict compliance by the PTEs, the following

SERVICE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES

Network Availability 99%

System Accessibility

Dial-up Access 80%80% *

Leased-line Access 99%

Service Activation Time from date of request for Activation if facilities are existing:

Dial-up Access (for existing fixed line Subscribers) within (1) working day

Leased-line Access 15 to 30 days

Bandwidth Throughput (Committed Info Rate that Must be delivered to Customer)

* Subject to annual review 98.5%

WIRED TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES

Direct Exchange Lines

Installation time within ten (10) working days from time 95%

The customer has paid the authorized installation rates

Waiting time 1 month

Faults fixed

Within 24 hours 90%

Within 48 hours 95%

Interconnection

Grade of Service per point of interconnection regardless of type of traffic 99%

Billing

Response to billing inquiries/complaints within 5 working days 100%

Local & International Leased Circuits

Service reliability 99.5%

Leased Circuit Requirements

Bit Error Rate (BER) 10 - 8

Latency for direct circuits only (international) - 250 ms or less

(local) - 60 ms or less

Mean time to Repair (MTTR) 95% in 24 hrs.

The prescribed standards for leased circuits shall apply to PTEs with control on said leased circuits.

The following terms as used in this circular shall mean:

Network Availability - is measured over a period of one (1) month and calculated as:

Hours in a day x Days in a month) - Network outage time (Hours in a day x Days in a month)

System Accessibility - is measured over a period of one (1) month and calculated as:

Hours in a day x Days in a month (Time system is unavailable for connection) (Hours in a day x Days in a month

Service Reliability - is measured over a period of one (1) month and calculated as

(Hours in a day x Days in a month) _- (Time service is below performance standards) Hours in a day x Days in a month

Bit Error Rate - is measured as the ratio of the number of bits incorrectly received to the total number of bits received.

Latency - is measured by averaging sample measurements taken during a calendar month between Hub Routers. Data collection should be in 5-minute intervals using pings via internet control message protocol.

Mean Time to Repair - is measured as a monthly average of time from inception of trouble ticket until outage is repaired to customer satisfaction as follows:

Total Outage Time (in Hours) Total Number of Trouble Tickets

PTEs shall submit to the Commission quarterly reports of their service quality using the above format. The report shall be submitted not later than fifteen (15) days after the end of each quarter and shall indicate monthly service quality information.

PTEs that fail to comply with the above-prescribed standards shall be subject to administrative sanctions pursuant to law.

Any circular, memorandum, order or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are deemed, repealed, amended or superseded accordingly.

This circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation and three (3) certified copies furnished the UP Law Center.

Adopted: 09 Dec. 2004

(SGD.) RONALD OLIVAR SOLIS

Commissioner

(SGD.) KATHLEEN G. HECETA

(SGD.) JORGE V. SARMIENTO

Deputy Commissioner

Deputy Commissioner