Telecoms

NTC mulls removing Prepaid Load Expiry

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief July 11, 2012 · 1 min read

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Since the DTI has successfully implemented the removal of expiry dates on gift certificates (GCs), the NTC is now also contemplating to do the same with mobile prepaid load.

In an interview with NTC for the GMA 7’s SONA episode, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is stated that they are studying the possibility of removing the expiry date of prepaid load for cellular phones.

Once implemented, this could mean that any amount loaded on your prepaid SIM card will never expire unless you use them or throw the SIM card away.

This follows a similar reasoning of DTI with regards to GCs — that those amounts are like currency anyway and should not have any expiration dates.

We expect that telcos will strongly oppose this move as this could affect their sales and bottom-line. If DTI can do it, we’re hoping NTC can do it too.

Currently, the expiry dates or validity of prepaid loads are as follows:

Php30 – Php50: 15 days
Php100: 30 days
Php300: 75 days
Php500: 120 days

Prepaid load cards also remain valid for 1 year when they are un-used.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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24 Comments

trending · 14 years ago

I hope NTC will have the balls to implement this.

Bryan · 14 years ago

Actually napatupad na ata or hndi ko lang napansin. Sun text to globe is 0.89 hahaha. may 9 cents. Sa totoo lang hndi nyo ba napapansin na talagang kinukunan tayo ng pera ng mga telcos. just compare it sa mga telcos ng ibang bansa, from their prepaid, post-paid, broadband, DSL, and even their loyalty rewards and retention schemes are really good. syempre may mga bulok parin sa kanila based on customers experience (I worked for an Aussie telco few years ago) hahaha.. Tapos sa kanila punta ka lang ng shop pag labas mo may postpaid ka na meron ka pang high end phone. potek dito ilang papel pa ang isusubmit mo para lang makakuha ka ng postpaid plan. Better yet buy a postpaid sim sa kanila then buy a phone in the gray market. I hope na bigyan talaga ng higpit ng government yung mga telco na yan para ma disiplina.

alex · 14 years ago

sana nga ma-implement yan… lalong yumayaman ang mga telcos dahil dyan….

Vince · 14 years ago

Is there is supposed to be a technical reason why there are expiration dates? What if keeping all the loads in the system including all those sim cards which were thrown away years ago costs them money? just like a hard drive getting full, the telcos might have cost savings by deleting old unused loads and hopefully they’ll pass those savings on to us (I know, malabo but lets dream anyway).

If that’s so then a compromise like maybe 6 months to a year before the 100 peso load expires would be an acceptable compromise. Or maybe some other kind of expiration like you have to consume at least one peso per X amount of time otherwise the load expires. If X = 1 year and you had a 15 peso load, as long as you text once a year, your load lasts 15 years. Ok na yun, 15 yrs

pines · 14 years ago

may point din dito si vince.. para hindi na gaano complicado.. dapat iimplement na yung owner registration ng sim, for both postpaid and prepaid.. para iwas kain ng expired load,the unused load will be saved in the simcard owners network account , parang saving bonds cya sa mga network providers.. dapat isang sim na rin for all the telcos, all we nid to do is buy load or promotional load sa network providers.

add ko na rin, since isa lang simcard number na gagamitin baka pwede na rin gawin itong sss/gsis, philhealth at drivers license na number para hindi na tayo mgmememorize pa ng maraming numbers.. :)

Carlo · 14 years ago

Oh my load does not expire.. I keep losing it.. The usual reason from Smart- “You were charged for browsing the internet”.. I never do..

Arlet · 14 years ago

Of course I don’t want telcoms’ to go out of business (I doubt that anyway) nor have their sales plunge down, but the logic that loads are like currency is true, so why does it suddenly vanish due to expiration.

HAHAHA mej agree ako jamB na para ngang pagnanakaw, pero legal(oh the irony of society).

metre9dmt · 14 years ago

NTC is at it again. They’re trying to regulate the telecom run by oligarchs. Makes me wonder if congress needs to update this toothless agency.

Candy · 14 years ago

Marami nang ginawang order ang NTC pero hindi naipapatupad:
No unsolicited sms / spam – pero tuloy pa rin
80cents / regular sms – piso pa din
Owner registration of sim – wala pa rin.
Nakaw load – sabi nila nangyayari pa rin
Reliability / speed of internet – wala pa rin
Free market selling of load – monopolize.pa rin by area

charli3 · 14 years ago

Mawawalan ng silbi ang promo ng globe na immortal text. LOL. kidding aside, sana magkatotoo, but ill take this article with a grain of salt.

jamB · 14 years ago

sana nga..kc kpag di nagamit say yung 30 load mo within 15 days,…automatic mawawala…so ano ipinag kaiba nila sa magnanakaw?? Parang kinupit na lang bigla yung 30 mo sa bulsa….