Telecommunications in the Philippines

Telecommunications in the Philippines are well-developed due to the presence of modern infrastructure facilities. The industry was deregulated in 1995, leading to the creation of many telecommunication service providers for mobile, fixed-line, Internet and other services.

Facts and figures
Telephones
Telephones - main lines in use
6.782 million (2011)
9 international gateways; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Pacific Ocean); submarine cables to Hong Kong, Guam, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan

Mobile
SIMs in use
103 million (2012)
Mobile prefixes used
Mobile Numbers are coded base on network providers ranging from 0800 to 0999, and international code for Philippines replace the zero to make an international call to the Philippines that would make it +63800 to +63999
Radio and Television
Radio broadcast stations
AM 369, FM 583, shortwave 5 (2003)
For list of radio stations in the Philippines, see List of radio stations in the Philippines.

Radios
11.5 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations
233 + 1373 CATV networks
For list of television stations in the Philippines, see List of television stations in the Philippines.

Televisions
3.7 million (1997)

Internet
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
320 (2011)
Internet Users
30 Million (2011)

Country code (Top level domain)
.ph

Area codes

Telephone numbers in the Philippines follow an open telephone numbering plan and an open dial plan. Both plans are regulated by the National Telecommunications Commission, an attached agency under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

The Philippines is assigned an international dialling code of 63 by ITU-T. Telephone numbers are fixed at seven digits, with area codes fixed at one, two, or three digits (a six-digit system was used until the mid-1990s; four to five digits were used in the countryside). Mobile phone numbers are always 10 digits (three digits for the service provider, plus a seven-digit number).

When making long-distance calls in the Philippines, the prefix 0 for domestic calls and 00 for international calls are used.

Fixed-line area codes
Philippine area codes for fixed-line or landline telephones are fixed at two digits, excluding Metro Manila, the province of Rizal and the towns and cities of Obando in Bulacan, Bacoor in Cavite and San Pedro, Laguna, which use the area code 2. Some smaller carriers concentrated within a specific geographic area may issue four- or five-digit area codes, but these are being phased out in favour of the standard two-digit area codes.

Occasionally, a particular area may change area codes. For example, the City of Bacoor in Cavite has been included in the geographical coverage area of area code 2 per the National Telecommunications Commission's Memorandum Order No. 08-09-2011, although almost all fixed-lines in the city still use the old 46 area code due to the poor compliance of PLDT and Globe to the said memorandum order. PLDT's response to the memorandum order is the release of its "Call All Manila SIM", an exclusive wireless landline service for Bacoor residents, however the Barangay Molino VII (Sitio Gawaran) and Sitio Malipay in Molino IV now used area code 2.

Sometimes area codes are shared by a number of local government entities to maximise their use. Some area codes are shared by multiple provinces, as is the case for former sub-provinces like Guimaras and Iloilo; newly carved provinces like Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur; or provinces with small populations like Marinduque and Quezon. In extreme cases, area codes are shared across an island like in Leyte and Samar, or even entire regions, such as with the Cordillera Administrative Region. In order to identify the call's point of origin, the three-digit telephone exchange prefix is checked.

Since the Philippines employs an open dial plan, telephone numbers dialled within a given area code do not require the area code, excluding calls made from mobile phones or pay phones. When dialling other area codes, the domestic long distance access prefix 0 is added, but when dialling from overseas, the domestic prefix is not included. As such, a typical telephone number in Metro Manila and Rizal would look like this:

Within Metro Manila, Rizal and municipalities of Obando, Bacoor and San Pedro: 1234567
Outside Metro Manila, Rizal and municipalities of Obando, Bacoor and San Pedro: 02-1234567
Overseas calls: +63-2-1234567
Areas are grouped into seven broad areas determining the first digit of a given area code. These areas and their accompanying area codes are listed below:

Area 2 – National Capital Region, Rizal and Surroundings
2: Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan (Obando), Cavite (Bacoor), Laguna (San Pedro)

Area 3 – Western and Central Visayas
32: Cebu
33: Iloilo, Guimaras
34: Negros Occidental
35: Negros Oriental, Siquijor
36: Aklan, Antique, Capiz
38: Bohol

Area 4 – Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog (Calabarzon and Mimaropa)
42: Aurora, Marinduque, Quezon, Romblon
43: Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro
44: Bulacan (except Obando), Nueva Ecija
45: Pampanga, Tarlac
46: Cavite (except Bacoor)
47: Bataan, Zambales
48: Palawan
49: Laguna (except San Pedro)

Area 5 – Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas
52: Albay, Catanduanes
53: Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte
54: Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur
55: Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Western Samar
56: Masbate, Sorsogon

Area 6 – Western and Central Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula, ARMM and Northern SOCCSKSARGEN)
62: Basilan, Zamboanga del Sur (including Zamboanga City), Zamboanga Sibugay
63: Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur
64: Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat
65: Zamboanga del Norte
68: Sulu, Tawi-Tawi

Area 7 – Northern Luzon (Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region)
72: La Union
74: Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province
75: Pangasinan
77: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur
78: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino

Area 8 – Northern, Eastern and Southern Mindanao (including Davao Region, Caraga and Southern SOCCSKSARGEN)
82: Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental
83: Sarangani, South Cotabato
84: Davao del Norte
85: Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur
86: Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur
87: Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental
88: Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental

Mobile phone area codes
Mobile phone area codes are three digits long and always start with the number 9, although recently new area codes have been issued with 8 as the starting digit, particularly for VOIP phone numbers. However, the area code indicates the service provider and not necessarily a geographic region. Unlike fixed-line telephones, the long-distance telephone dialling format is always observed when using a mobile phone. Therefore, mobile phone numbers always have the format "+63 (xxx) xxx-xxxx" for international callers and "0(xxx) xxx-xxxx" for domestic callers.

Some of the first area codes to be assigned for mobile phones were 912 for Mobiline/Piltel, 915 for Islacom, 917 for Globe Telecom, 918 for Smart Communications, and 973 for Express Telecom. As service began growing rapidly since the 1990s, new codes have been added to meet demand as existing codes have since been exhausted. Newer codes often come immediately after the last code exhausted, but this might not be the case if the next code is already in use. 965/966 are the latest codes (Feb 2018) and are used for Globe & TM.

Areas codes are grouped by provider with no single contiguous block of codes for a single provider. The companies and their respective area codes are listed below:

The list of prefixes is updated as of March 2018

Key:

"G": Globe Telecom/TM
"SM": Smart Communications/TNT
"SU": Sun Cellular
"E": Express Telecom
"N": Next Mobile
"ABS": ABS-CBNmobile
"CP": Cherry Prepaid

First 2 digits	Third digit
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
90					G	G	SM	SM	SM	SM
91	SM	SM	SM	SM	G	G	G	SM	SM	SM
92	SM	SU	SU	SU	SU	G	G	SM	SM	SM
93	SU	SU	SU	SU	G	G	ABS/G	SM	SM	SM
94	SU	SU	SU	SU	G	SM	SM	SM	SM	SM
95	SM				G	G				SM
96					G	G
97			E	E	G	G	G	N	N	SM
98	SM								SM
99		SM		G	G	CP/G	G	SM	SM

Republic acts affecting telecommunications
August 10, 1963: Republic Act No. 3846, An act providing for the regulation of radio stations and radio communications in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes.
December 21, 1989: Republic Act No. 6849, An act providing for the installation, operation and maintenance of public telephones in each and every municipality in the Philippines, appropriating funds therefor and for other purposes.
March 1, 1995: Republic Act No. 7925, An act to promote and govern the development of Philippine telecommunications and the delivery of public telecommunications services.
2016: Republic Act No. 10844, An Act Creating the Department of Information And Communications Technology (DICT), defining its powers and functions appropriating funds thereof, and for other purposes.
SMS
SMS services are very common in the Philippines, from news briefs to multimedia services. Civilian logistical communication through SMS was an important part of the EDSA II revolt in 2001 that overthrew the government of President Joseph Estrada.

Calling to the Philippines
A lot of Filipinos work outside of their country and they keep contact with their families back home using calling cards to the Philippines because those are cheaper than direct calling. Some people use e-mail or instant messaging, but the preferred method is still the phone.

Telecommunications regulatory environment in the Philippines
LIRNEasia's Telecommunications Regulatory Environment (TRE) index, which summarizes stakeholders’ perception on certain TRE dimensions, provides insight into how conducive the environment is for further development and progress. The most recent survey was conducted in July 2008 in eight Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines. The tool measured seven dimensions: i) market entry; ii) access to scarce resources; iii) interconnection; iv) tariff regulation; v) anti-competitive practices; and vi) universal services; vii) quality of service, for the fixed, mobile and broadband sectors.

Source from Wikipedia