CLARK FREEPORT -- The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has approved the proposed interconnection of telephone lines between the Clark and Subic Freeports.

NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, in a letter to Clark Development Corporation (CDC) Public Relations Manager Angelo "Sonny" Lopez Jr., said local interconnection between Clark and Subic "are within NTC existing rules and regulations."

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Cordoba issued the statements after Lopez, through the Metro Clark Advisory Council (MCAC), requested a certificate or clearance showing that the proposed interconnection of phone lines has not violated NTC rules and regulations.

The MCAC has been pushing for the interconnection of the two freeports' phone lines following the success of the interconnection of Clark phone lines with other telecommunications providers in Pampanga.

CDC President Benigno Ricafort, Lopez, PLDT Clark Manager Lito Mercado, PEP TV President Dennis Uy, and Subic Clark Alliance for Development Chairman Edgardo Pamintuan have been the forerunners of the interconnection project, which has been cited by no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In December 2008, President Arroyo bestowed an award to Clark officials led by CDC's Ricafort for the telecommunications interconnection project that was one of the top 10 winners of the 1st Gawad Pampublikong Korporasyon (1st GPK).

According to Ricafort, the CDC's winning entry was conceived in 2001 and aims to interconnect Clark's telephone lines to Angeles City and the City of San Fernando, as well as other areas in the province of Pampanga.

He said the interconnection project was an initiative of the MCAC, a partnership group between the CDC and Local Government Units (LGUs) within the Metro Clark area.

Lopez said the project paved the way for phone companies like the Philippine Long Distance and Telecommunications Company (PLDT), Smart Telecommunications (Smart), and Digitel to provide toll free calls to its subscribers in Clark and the rest of Pampanga.

Lopez, a MCAC secretariat and head of the original "Task Force Interconnection," stressed that residents, locators, and investors inside the Clark Freeport are now saving at least P13.2 million yearly on long distance calls because of the project.

"The CDC alone has saved as much as P1.2 million per year since this project was implemented," Lopez added.