ALL THAT money, after all, is bound to invite attention. But among the parties now looking twice at the mobile phone operators' Olympic-size pools of money is the perennially cash-strapped government, which recently brought up a proposal to tax texting.

The idea is nothing new. In the 11th Congress, a bill filed by then Rep. Danilo Suarez sought to impose a seven-percent tax on gross receipts of mobile-communication firms. The proceeds would then fund the education department's computer literacy program. Yet another proposal in Congress seeks dividends instead of taxes from the cell phone companies' earnings from text messaging.

Rodolfo Salalima, Globe senior vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs, says the industry is "already overtaxed." Cell phone companies already pay 10-percent value-added tax (VAT) on all telecom services, including SMS and voice. Imported telecom equipment is likewise subject to 10- to 20-percent tariff and custom duties. Another 30 to 32 percent of taxable income is paid as corporate income tax.

Local governments are also imposing dues ranging from real-property tax to franchise and other business taxes. On top of all these, mobile operators pay millions of pesos in regulatory fees to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

"Telcos have to survive," says Salalima. "Expanding and further improving our services to the rural areas are in part financed by borrowings. So ultimately, taxes will be borne by the people. It is they who will be greatly hit by this new tax proposal."

Other members of Congress, meanwhile, have initiated inquiries into so-called "text gambling," referring to SMS-based raffles and "games of chance" conducted by both Smart and Globe. The lawmakers are questioning the legal basis for launching these text games, which they deem as gambling operations without the necessary franchise.

If at all, it's the perception that telcos are making lots of money that Isberto laments. "People ought to know that we're also spending tons of money. We have invested close to P40 billion for network expansion and the required backbone support." That includes tripling its SMS handling capacity from 92 million to 240 million and increasing its network capacity to accommodate eight million subscribers.

Similarly, Globe disclosed it spent nearly P30 billion in capital expenditures last year, P23 billion of which went to enhancing its wireless services via 1,800 cell sites and 22 switching centers.

But not by any stretch of the imagination are they losing money either.