The country’s two largest telecommunication companies said they will comply with the government’s order to extend the validity period of mobile prepaid load to one year.
Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo said all prepaid load with denomination of P300 and above would carry a one-year expiration period from the current 120 days.
“We welcome the latest directive of the DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) granting a six months extension on the implementation of the one-year load expiration for denominations below P300,”Castelo said.
The validity period of prepaid load with denomination of P1 to below P300 expires between three days and 75 days.
Castelo said the six-month extension would give the company ample time to prepare for the smooth and seamless implementation of the expiration change across all denominations.
Among the changes that Globe will address are expansion capacity, system tests and additional number series.
“Furthermore, there may be new conditions applied to prepaid services within the next six months to ensure a sustainable quality of service,” Castelo said.
Smart spokesperson Ramon Isberto said his company would also comply with the new circular of the government, which extends the validity of prepaid load to one year.
“In particular, Smart, TNT and Sun prepaid loads worth P300 and above shall be moving forward have a one-year validity, regardless of the validity period printed on the physical cards already out in the market,” Isberto said.
He added the six-month extension period granted by the government before the full implementation of the circular would provide the company more time to implement the extensive reconfiguration of its IT and other support systems.
It also provides the company to conduct the needed tests, in order to ensure trouble-free implementation of the new expiry period, Isberto said.