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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Bill lifting telco data caps hurdle House panel

Bill lifting telco data caps hurdle House panel

Published Sep 25, 2025 05:11 pm

At A Glance

  • The House Committee on Information and Communications Technology has approved a consolidated bill mandating all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to adopt a roll-over data allocation scheme.
(Unsplash)
(Unsplash)


The House Committee on Information and Communications Technology has approved a consolidated bill mandating all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to adopt a roll-over data allocation scheme.
According to panel chaiman Camarines Sur 5th district Rep. Migz Villafuerte, the enactmemt of such a measuee would allow prepaid and postpaid subscribers alike to carry over their remaining or unused data to the next billing cycle, or until such credits are consumed.
The proposed “Roll-Over Internet Act,”—embodied in three House bills (HBs) that similarly seek to end the data or load caps enforced by ISPs on their subscribers—was unanimously approved, subject to style, during the recent organizational meeting  of the Villafuerte-led committee.
“As approved by our committee, once this bill becomes a law, both the prepaid and postpaid subscribers of all ISPs or telcos (telecommunications companies) will be able to use the remaining data of their mobile data packages even after such expire in one or several days or in a month, depending on their respective subscription plans,” Villafuerte said.
“This means goodbye to the currently unfair, anti-consumer practice of telcos to have their subscribers, whether with prepaid or postpaid data packages, forfeit their unused data when their particular subscriptions end after a day, three days, a week, 15 days or one month,” he added.
During the hearing, Camarines Sur 1st district Rep. Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata moved to approve House Bill (HB) Nos. 87, 650, and 708.
A similar bill requiring ISPs to adopt a roll-over data scheme was passed by the House of Representatives during the 18th Congress. However, the Senate had no counterpart bill, and the measure didn't prosper.
Villafuerte explained that under the current data packages, postpaid subscribers lose their unused data at the end of their 30-day billing cycles, while prepaid users have to re-purchase data promos to maintain their Internet connections when their loads expire after one, three, 7, 15 or 30 days.
“As has been pointed out by the proponents of this measure, the forced loss of mobile data under the current prepaid or postpaid ISP subscription plans is not only inefficient but inherently unfair to consumers as well,” he said.
HB No.87 was authored in the current 20th Congress by Cavite Reps. Ramon Revilla III (1st district) and Lani Mercado-Revilla (2nd district), along with Agimat Party-list Rep. Bryan Revilla.
Under the consolidated bill, any ISP that fails to comply with any of the provisions of the proposed law, shall face a cash fine equivalent to P50,000 per violation per subscriber.
On top of the cash penalty, repeat violators face the revocation or cancellation of their licenses, registration or franchises, and the waiving of any pre-termination fees of the affected subscribers.
ICT panel sets agenda for 20th Congress
This House ICT panel is also supporting the Marcos administration’s future-proofing agenda by tackling proposed legislation to beef up our country’s defense against artificial intelligence (AI)-generated cyber fraud and other digital scams.
Topping the committee's agenda, says Villafuerte, is a proposed measure against duplicitous schemes such as deepfakes or AI-generated fakery as well as other forms of cyber fraud that have become endemic with the increasingly pervasive use of digital technology.
“President Marcos is spot on in stressing that while AI offers breakthroughs for our country to become digitally empowered, inclusive and future-ready in the digital age, Filipinos need to be extra vigilant against the risks that come with this cutting-edge technology that poses serious threats to privacy and jobs,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte says one of the measures that the ICT committee will tackle is HB No.3214, which aims to check the spread of AI-generated fraud by imposing strict rules on the use of deepfakes.
Authored by Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan, HB No.3214 seeks to empower every Filipino with the inherent right to one’s own likeness, including one’s face, body and voice, without need of prior registration for trademark or copyright protection.
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