NTC to exceed target collection this year

MANILA, Philippines — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is expected to exceed its collection target for the fourth straight year, with collection as of end-November already surpassing its yearend goal by over P2 billion. 

The NTC, an agency under the Department of Information and Communications Technology, collected P6.95 billion as of end-November, already P2.16 billion more than the P4.79 billion target collection for this year.

Last year, the NTC exceeded its target by P1.8 billion.

“The agency had hoped to exceed its collection target of P2 billion this year and I am grateful to each and every one in the NTC for making sure we achieve this,” NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said in a statement.

The agency attributed this year’s strong collection to its personnel’s concerted effort to strictly enforce stakeholders’s compliance in remitting spectrum users’ fees, supervision and regulation fees and penalties.

“This achievement demonstrates the NTC and DICT’s full support to the national government and the public service programs pushed by President Duterte,” Cordoba said.

Stakeholders regulated by the NTC include cable and commercial television operators, broadcast radio stations, telecommunications companies and commercial and portable radio operators.

Collection targets of the NTC are mandated in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, a document mandated by the Constitution and consolidated by the Department of Budget and Management.