Welcome to Thread 2 :cheers:

Keep posting dudes :okay:

Link to Thread 1 (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=387114)

The iPad effect: Kindle, Nook cut their prices

Robert Clark | June 22, 2010
telecomasia.net

The extraordinary success of the iPad has forced specialist ebook readers Kindle and Nook to cut their prices.

Barnes & Noble, the producer of the Nook, yesterday offered the 3G version of the device at $189, $70 off its previous price, and unveiled a Wi-Fi only reader for $149.

Rival Amazon responded hours later by also knocking $70 off the price of the Kindle to $189.

Other makers of e-readers, like Sony Electronics, may also have to cut their prices, a Standard & Poors analyst told Reuters.

However, by playing both the software and hardware sides of the street, Amazon’s Kindle, the original e-book reader, looks the strongest-placed in the market.

As with Barnes & Noble, Amazon’s e-readers sales are just a tiny fragment of its total business. But it has also created a Kindle e-reader app for the iPad, the iPhone and Android platforms, which is driving sales from its digital bookstore.

GigaOm’s Om Malik blogged: “Unlike Amazon’s Kindle store, iBooks is going to be limited to the iPad/iPhone platform — which is not good enough for me. I like the flexibility of the Kindle app, even if it offers books to me in somewhat of a less attractive format. In other words, Amazon should be thinking about Kindle as a platform that leverages other people’s hardware.”

Apple has sold more than 2 million iPads since the lightweight multimedia tablet was launched in early April. It is expected to go on sale in Hong Kong and Singapore next month.

Eagerly waiting for the roll-out of Liberty telecoms (San Miguel telecoms) products..:)

Eagerly waiting for the roll-out of Liberty telecoms (San Miguel telecoms) products..:)


^^

Any idea when would it commence its promotion? :banana:

Google Voice telecom service opens to all in US

Agence France-Presse - Inquirer.net
First Posted 08:19:00 06/23/2010

SAN FRANCISCO—Internet giant Google has opened its Google Voice telecommunications service to anyone in the United States interested in using a single telephone number for all of their phones.

Google Voice reportedly attracted more than a million users during an invitation-only test phase and Google was bracing for a flood of interest on Tuesday as it made the service public.

"Today, after lots of testing and tweaking, we're excited to open up Google Voice to the public, no invitation required," product managers Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet said in a joint blog post.

"We’re proud of the progress we've made with Google Voice over the last few years, and we're still just scratching the surface of what's possible when you combine your regular phone service with the latest Web technology."

Along with letting users have one phone number that rings at all of their telephones, the service converts voice mail or text messages into email and allows for toll-free calls to the United States and Canada.

In an online video describing Voice, Google promised "less annoyances and more awesomeness -- for free." Voice threatens to challenge global Internet telephony star Skype.

People in the United States can sign up for the service online at google.com/voice.

Google promises that the service works "no matter what kind of phone you have or which carrier you use."

Globe interconnects with BayanTel

In Camarines Sur and Albay - Manila Bulletin
By EMMIE V. ABADILLAJune 22, 2010, 7:39pm

Globe Telecom Inc. forged an interconnection agreement with Bayan Telecommunications for the provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay to enable millions of subscribers to make local calls to one another.

The local interconnection between the two telcos took effect June 16, 2010. With this development, Globe is set to provide its wireline products and services to the residents of Camarines Sur and Albay as it pursues its network rollout in these parts of Bicol region.

“The interconnection allows Globelines and BayanTel landline customers in Camarines Sur and Albay to call one another without any additional fee,” according to Atty. Froilan Castelo, Head of Regulatory Affairs at Globe. “As these will now be considered local calls, the people in the area stand to benefit by saving on long distance charges that they used to pay before in making calls from one provider to the other. Our Globelines customers can simply dial the seven-digit telephone number to connect with the other service provider.”

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) mandates compulsory interconnection of authorized public telecommunications carriers under Republic Act 7925.

Eagerly waiting for the roll-out of Liberty telecoms (San Miguel telecoms) products..:)

Wi-Tribe has already started several months ago although I think its only here in Manila. And they have been getting some flak in other message boards for that 6GB cap.

Wi-Tribe has already started several months ago although I think its only here in Manila. And they have been getting some flak in other message boards for that 6GB cap.

mayron kaming Wi-tribe, asar yon agent na nag demo sabi 1 Mbps yon speed sir amp, di naman sinabi yon about ca 3 GB cap. ayaw tulong di namin binayaran at nong pinayaran naman namin yon 1 month saka naman nila pinutol ang service. ok na kami ngayon wala Buwis na Wi-tribe.

^^

Any idea when would it commence its promotion? :banana:

3rd quarter of 2010.:)

^^^ So this would Liberty will be another name for a SIM Card here..just asking LOL

^^ Were lucky yun bansa natin late ma-reach ng iPhone v4... may antenna problem pala yun 1st version ng unit... :)

On New iPhone, a Mystery of Dropped Calls

Published: Friday, 25 Jun 2010 | 10:21 AM ET
By: Miguel Helft
The New York Times / CNBC

For iPhone owners, it always comes back to the antenna.

Apple’s touch-screen smartphone has been a sensation since Day 1 three years ago, and many who own the device believe it to be almost perfect — if only it worked better as a phone.

So it is not surprising that as the first boxes of the new iPhone 4 landed in the hands of the earliest adopters late Wednesday, the antenna’s reception quickly became an Internet obsession. What surprised many of them: the precious little bars that signal network connections inexplicably disappeared when they cradled the phone in their hands a particular way. Sometimes, but not always, the cradling resulted in dropped calls.

In the hours before Apple weighed in on the problem, iPhone fans turned to one another on the Internet in a zealous exercise in crowd-sourcing for answers to the mystery.

They were all the more baffled because the iPhone 4 was designed to have better reception. A metal band that wraps around the edges of the device is supposed to pull in a stronger signal; software is supposed to choose the section of the signal with the least congestion.

A user calling himself FFArchitect appeared to be the first to report the phenomenon on MacRumors.com, a site for the Apple-obsessed. He said that touching the band in various places caused reception problems. His report, like many that followed, included a video demonstrating the problem.

Soon after, Gizmodo, a popular site for gadget fans, picked up on it, calling the phenomenon “weird.”

“When the guy holds the iPhone in his hands, touching the outside antenna band in two places, he drops reception,” Jesus Diaz, a writer for the blog, said. “Placing the phone down gets him 4 bars.”

From then on, report after report began to ricochet across technology Web sites, and Mr. Diaz posted updates as new stories from around the Web dropped into his in-box. “This is worrying,” Mr. Diaz wrote.

One commenter linked to an article from early this month about a Danish expert in radio antennas who predicted that touching the antenna would affect reception. Another update claimed to narrow down the problem to touching the lower left side of the phone.

The reader reports included suggestions for how to fix the problem use nail polish to insulate the antenna; enclose the phone in a rubber case — and appeared to show some wisdom in this crowd. Late Thursday, an Apple spokesman, Steve Dowling, acknowledged that the issues experienced by users were real but he played down their importance.

“Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, depending on the placement of the antennas,” he said. “This is a fact of life for every wireless phone.”

Mr. Dowling declined to say whether Apple experienced the issue during testing of the phone and suggested that users not hold the phone in a way that covers both sides of a small black strip on the lower left side. Alternatively, he said, they could use one of many available cases.

Analysts and investors did not appear overly worried

“Apple has not had one introduction that hasn’t had issues,” said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company. “Sometimes these things get blown out of proportion.”

On Wall Street, shares of Apple slid a mere 0.8 percent, faring better than the broad Nasdaq index, which dropped 1.6 percent.

And given the long lines outside Apple stores in New York heat, Chicago rain and San Francisco fog, consumers appeared unconcerned by, or unaware of, the potential reception issues.

Even Brian Lam, Gizmodo’s editorial director, saw an upside to the iPhone 4, antenna problems and all. “We are paying attention to the antenna issue because it could be a big deal,” he said.

But Mr. Lam said that for years, he had not been able to use older iPhones to make calls from his home. That changed on Thursday, after he bought an iPhone 4. “I have made three hours of calls today,” he said.

i doubt na kahit late ang launch ng iphone sa pinas ay aayusin nila yang problema sa drop calls pati na rin ng yellow spots sa screen. :lol:

^^^ So this would Liberty will be another name for a SIM Card here..just asking LOL

maybe.

maybe.

ok na kahit di na sila mag promote. shutdown nalang nila yon network. wala naman kuwenta service nila.

ok na kahit di na sila mag promote. shutdown nalang nila yon network. wala naman kuwenta service nila.

in other words nakuryente ang San Miguel for taking over Liberty Telecoms?

Globe explores LTE technology

Business Insight Malaya Philippines
June 23, 2010

Globe Telecom continues testing the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in as it aims to bring the latest mobile broadband innovation to the Philippines.

LTE is a high-performance air interface for cellular mobile technology. After 2G and 3G, LTE is next frontier in radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks. It addresses the demand for higher data rates and increased quality of service.

LTE enables its users to experience the fastest mobile broadband service up to 100 MBPS.

It will not only make existing mobile phone applications faster, but will pave the way for new functions that previously available only on a wired internet connection. With LTE, multimedia content and applications be available anytime, anywhere.

Several worldwide carriers like Verizon and AT&T in the United States are beginning to convert their networks to LTE. In fact, global telecom industry analysts say that demand for LTE connections should soar once the technology is commercially available.

As a pioneer, Globe continues to deploy future technologies for use of Filipino customers such as LTE.

Local LTE testing is being undertaken in conjunction with parent firm Singapore Telecom, who has spearheaded efforts for LTE trials across affiliates in Asia and Australia.

The trials will take about six to nine months and is meant to understand LTE and determine the best approach and strategy for its adoption locally. The trials will also lay the groundwork to establish a regionally compatible LTE network.

Globe explores LTE technology

Business Insight Malaya Philippines
June 23, 2010

Globe Telecom continues testing the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in as it aims to bring the latest mobile broadband innovation to the Philippines.

LTE is a high-performance air interface for cellular mobile technology. After 2G and 3G, LTE is next frontier in radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks. It addresses the demand for higher data rates and increased quality of service.

LTE enables its users to experience the fastest mobile broadband service up to 100 MBPS.

It will not only make existing mobile phone applications faster, but will pave the way for new functions that previously available only on a wired internet connection. With LTE, multimedia content and applications be available anytime, anywhere.

Several worldwide carriers like Verizon and AT&T in the United States are beginning to convert their networks to LTE. In fact, global telecom industry analysts say that demand for LTE connections should soar once the technology is commercially available.

As a pioneer, Globe continues to deploy future technologies for use of Filipino customers such as LTE.

Local LTE testing is being undertaken in conjunction with parent firm Singapore Telecom, who has spearheaded efforts for LTE trials across affiliates in Asia and Australia.

The trials will take about six to nine months and is meant to understand LTE and determine the best approach and strategy for its adoption locally. The trials will also lay the groundwork to establish a regionally compatible LTE network.

and once deploy, Globe will offer 1 Mbps internet for residential. p@tang inang nyo Globe, Smart kung makaka-kula lang ako ng internet galing sa ibang bansa sila pa ang pipiliin ko kisa sa 1 Mbps na internet nyo. pwe. Wimax and LTE 1 Mbps lang ang speed na binigay pero yon singil 1000.00

makaka-kuha kana ng 20 to 50 Mbps nyan sa Malaysia at Hongkong.

my own thread of this LTE
http://www.xdownx.org/index.php?/topic/34-globe-explores-lte-technology/

walang sim card ang wi-tribe aka liberty telecom, aka san miguel wimax, dahil hindi naman sila telco or mobile phone company.

Wimax lang ang current product nila, at walang sim card ang wimax modems nila.

ok na kahit di na sila mag promote. shutdown nalang nila yon network. wala naman kuwenta service nila.

hindi namn kasi for biz ang service nila. for home users only na hindi mahilig mag download sa torrent, p2p etc..

hindi namn kasi for biz ang service nila. for home users only na hindi mahilig mag download sa torrent, p2p etc..

kung alam ko yon CAP nila ng 3 or 6 GB hindi parin ako mag-sa-subcribe sa kanila.

kung alam ko yon CAP nila ng 3 or 6 GB hindi parin ako mag-sa-subcribe sa kanila.

hindi ba nila sinabi bago ka pumirma ng contract? sa contract andun din ata yun. noong nag inquire kasi ako, sa phone pa lang sinabi na nila na may capping nga paglampas ng 3gig, kaya di na ako tumuloy, mabibitin kasi ako pag may capping, tapos gagamitin pa sa icafe. yung globe sabi walang capping, not sure kung totoo

hindi nila sinabi sa akin at wala sa TOS yon.

Public 'webphone' now in Philippines :)

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 06/29/2010 3:29 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The country's first "webphone" resembles a public phone booth, but is loaded with more services.

Called E-Stop, the latest offering of Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. puts together the payphone and Internet services in a touch screen device, allowing users to call, surf the Internet, and send e-mails.

It can be found in Quezon City's TriNoma mall, which is also owned by the Ayala Group.

"We are proud to bring another first in the Philippines. We are excited to introduce the new all-in-one Webphone service that consumers can conveniently access if they need to call or connect to the Internet," said Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu.

Globe rolled out the first E-Stop in partnership with TouchMedia Philippines under a proof-of-concept trial.

Asked about the market's response to Globe's latest service, Cu said, "We are glad that after more than 2 weeks since we started with the first Globe E-Stop, we've had an overwhelming reception from the consumers in terms of revenues, usage and service."

As it enhances its public webphone service, Globe said it intends to offer text messaging, reloads, bill payments and advertising at the E-Stop in the future.

may sun 3G na sa legazpi.. i dont know if I can u SBW...

May naka try naba sa smart WIMAX ? post your reviews please :) thanks.

http://smart.com.ph/NR/rdonlyres/CF0AE557-BA5B-4557-8AEB-9885FA5BB380/14179/wimax_streamer6x3ftfinal1.jpg

P@tang Wimax yan. 1 Mbps at 512 yon speed. why not offer 10 Mbps?

Broadband now a legal right in Finland :)

Dylan Bushell-Embling | July 02, 2010
telecomasia.net

Broadband access is now a legal right to every citizen of Finland, under new legislation that came into effect Thursday.

Finland's new Universal Service Obligation (USO) requires every operator in the country to offer broadband connections of at least 1Mbps for anybody who requests one.

And the government plans to ensure the vast majority of the population is on a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

Finnish communications minister Suvi Linden told the BBC that internet services are now a crucial part of everyday life. “Internet services are no longer just for entertainment,” she said.

An estimated 96% of the population is already online, Linden said.

But the OECD ranks Finland just 14th among its members by broadband subscribers per 100,000 people.

Access to the internet is already a protected right in Estonia, in France due to legal precedents, and in some other countries, but Finland is thought to be the first to specify speeds and connection types.

ano pla wimax, ano pinag kaiba sa smartbro canop, wi tribe mga modem usb? lay mans term lang

ano pla wimax, ano pinag kaiba sa smartbro canop, wi tribe mga modem usb? lay mans term lang

mas stable ang speed. mas mabilis ang latency or ping.

mas malayo ang reach.

mas stable ang speed. mas mabilis ang latency or ping.

mas malayo ang reach.

mas sosyal:D toinks


4th generation kasi gamit dyan:D or 4G

mas sosyal:D toinks


4th generation kasi gamit dyan:D or 4G

p@tang inang mga 4G na yan. 1 Mbps or 512 Kbps lang yon speed, what a shame.

bakit hindi nalang 56 Kbps nalang i-offer nila para match sa dial-up kung ganyan lang din yon speed na binigay nila. pang asar, may pa 4G na nalalaman 1 Mbps or 512 lang naman speed na binibigay nila. bakit hindi 10 Mbps? bakit nyo bigyan ng mabilis na internet ang mga consumer d2 sa pilipinas. P@tang mga telco na yan. masyadong sakim sa profit.

ano say nyo?

p@tang inang mga 4G na yan. 1 Mbps or 512 Kbps lang yon speed, what a shame.

bakit hindi nalang 56 Kbps nalang i-offer nila para match sa dial-up kung ganyan lang din yon speed na binigay nila. pang asar, may pa 4G na nalalaman 1 Mbps or 512 lang naman speed na binibigay nila. bakit hindi 10 Mbps? bakit nyo bigyan ng mabilis na internet ang mga consumer d2 sa pilipinas. P@tang mga telco na yan. masyadong sakim sa profit.

ano say nyo?

2 Mbps ang bandwidth natin. Nasa Mbps na ang bandwidth ng pinas. Yun ang typical. Madalas yan pag madaling araw.

1 mbps lang ang offer nila sa wimax. residential plan lang kasi yan, wala pa silang biz plan at higher speeds.

mas mabilis pa nga yung 3G eh, umaabot ng 2mbps, kung konti lang users, yunlang pag congested na bumababa sa 500kbps.

1 mbps lang ang offer nila sa wimax. residential plan lang kasi yan, wala pa silang biz plan at higher speeds.

mas mabilis pa nga yung 3G eh, umaabot ng 2mbps, kung konti lang users, yunlang pag congested na bumababa sa 500kbps.

may 2 MBps ang wi-tribe. for sure in the next couple of months sasabay na din ibang providers dyan. Kaya technically, nasa Mbps na ang bandwidth ng pinas.

good.

dati kasi noong nag inquire ako nasa 1mbps pa lang.

sana yung capping alisin nila:D

sa Coastal area kasi ng matnog wala pang internet kaya gusto namin magka-internet sa amin pero sana maka kuha ako ng 8 or 10 Mbps internet sa Bulan.

Our plan:
http://i49.tinypic.com/n4jywx.jpg

mas stable ang speed. mas mabilis ang latency or ping.

mas malayo ang reach.

mas ok pa yon latency ng Smart BRO compare sa latency ng Wi-Tribe pagdating sa online games.

Wi-Tribe customer ako dati pero dahil asar ako sa CAP nila at di sinabi sa akin ng agent na yon. wala na kaming internet na wi-tribe.

can that be possible? ang tataas ng bundok jan sainyo

can that be possible? ang tataas ng bundok jan sainyo

pwedi yan. ito yon link path nya.

http://i49.tinypic.com/i6c8zo.jpg

kaya possible to dahil may line of sight.

Great. MOD deleted my "National Broadband Network" thread.

ICT pushed to help improve governance

BY IRMA ISIP
Business Insight Malaya
July 6, 2010

The Philippines is moving toward improving governance through information and communication technology (ICT).

Ray Roxas-Chua, chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), said the agency is aggressively pushing e-governance, among other strategic objectives to promote and improve the country’s ICT landscape.

Progress could be speeded up, however, if a government chief information officer (GCIO) is named, said Esperanza Espino, president of the Chief Information Officers Forum (CIOF). "The Philippines needs to catch up with other Asian countries that have their respective government CIOs that manage and oversee the country’s ICT department, as they can create a strategic direction for the government," Espino added.

CIOF was among the organizers of last month’s first e-Governance Forum as part of the observation of the National Information and Communications Technology Month and to promote ICT in the country.

The theme of the first e-Governance Forum was "Public Service 2.0: From e-Government to e-Governance." Otjer organizers are the CIOF Foundation, the CICT and the e-Governance for Efficiency and Effectiveness (E3) Project.

One of the international speakers who illustrated the importance of having an overseer New Zealand Government CIO Laurence Miller. Miller has spent more than five years in developing and implementing the country’s e-government strategy.

He has been instrumental in driving and developing the all-of-government portal, www.govt.nz, growing it through three major release cycles. He has pushed a major IT investment portfolio worth $2 billion while supervising the New Zealand’s ICT expenditure.

One of Miller’s biggest contributions to New Zealand’s ICT is the National Broadband Map, which complements the strategies of the central and local government and previews the nation’s broadband landscape, thus allowing the government to address demand through infrastructure planning. The technology received a World Summit Award under the e-Government and Institutions last year.

Professor Toshio Obi from Waseda University provided key learning in his talk Global Asean Trends in e-Governance. Waseda University is one of Japan’s top universities and houses the Institute of e-Government. Headed by Obi, the university leads the Waseda University International e-Government Ranking, which recognizes countries excelling in e-governance based on specific metrics.

The local government unit (LGU)-focused track included a Geographic Information System (GGIS) discussion by Elsa Perez-Pantino, municipal planning and development coordinator in Guagua, Pampanga, and e-Governance for municipal development by Li-Ann de Leon, executive director of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

i-Channel Launch for Philippines

DoCoMo announces i-Channel will debut in Philippines via local partner Smart Telecom Jpn: http://bit.ly/cT4tOz

NTT DoCoMo announced that communication career Smart Commnications of the Philippines provided push type information delivery service “Hot Press” that corresponded to i channel of DoCoMo on July 5. Smart Commnications has the maximum subscriber in the Philippines in 100% subsidiary company of fixed telecommunications provider Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company(PLDT) with which DoCoMo is entering capital participation.

It serves to the idle screen of the correspondence terminal information such as news, sports, and the entertainments Hot Press by the telop display. When the key for Hot Press is pushed, latest information is done the list display, and can confirm detailed information by choosing the topic.

DoCoMo is establishing Business Co-operation Committee as an organization that aims at PLDT, Smart, and the business synergy creation, and the offer of Hot Press becomes one of the results.
http://wirelesswatch.jp/2010/07/02/i-channel-launch-for-philippines/

SANA matuloy yon national broadband network. it will create direct competition to PLDT / Globe / Bayan and Digitel and will bring the internet faster and affordable.

^^ national broadband i believe is for government use only. yes, sana matuloy sya this time walang anumalya.

^^ national broadband i believe is for government use only. yes, sana matuloy sya this time walang anumalya.

I share the same view. :)

Eastern, Liberty in consolidation talks


by Jeremiah F. de Guzman
Manila Standard
July 8, 2010

Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. said it may consolidate its landline business with the wireless unit of San Miguel Corp., resulting in a single telecommunication company.

Edwin Domingo, Eastern’s marketing business development head, told reporters Wednesday that talks between San Miguel and Eastern on synergies were ongoing.

He said “[the parties] are working on the principle of who provides the competency on wired and wireless [businesses].”

Domingo said the possible outcome of the ongoing synergy talks “could be like a San Miguel telecom company.” “Eastern is [just] helping set up parts of the infrastructure for Liberty Telecom,” he said.

Domingo said “Eastern will be the surviving entity” in the wired business while San Miguel’s Liberty Telecom would be in charge of mobile service delivery.

“I don’t think [Liberty] will spend for another layer of infrastructure for wired. Eastern’s wired infrastructure is already in place,” Domingo said. He said Eastern was still “functioning as it is” while Liberty remained an Eastern customer.

RP lags behind Asian neighbors in digital TV popularization :ohno:

(philstar.com) Updated July 09, 2010 12:15 AM

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) -- The Philippines lags behind other Asian countries and regions in the popularization of digital TV, according to the latest figures released Thursday by Informa Telecoms and Media, a leading provider of business intelligence and strategic services to the global telecoms and media markets.

The Philippines ranked second from the bottom of the list in terms of digital TV penetration, with just 5 percent in 2009, up from 1 percent in 2005. By 2015, the country's digital TV penetration will only climb to 21 percent.

Indonesia, which is at the bottom of the barrel, also had 1 percent penetration rate in 2005, increased to 2 percent last year and is to grow more than 14 percent by 2015.

On the other hand, Singapore, China's Hongkong, Australia and New Zealand are expected to attain 100 percent digital TV penetration by 2015. Another four regions are expected to have achieved a penetration rate of 70 percent or more - Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan.

Despite the global macro-economic difficulties, more than 35 million homes in Asia upgraded from analog to digital TV in 2009. Also in the year, 26 million new homes subscribed to pay TV, comprising 14 million to cable, 9 million to DTH and 3 million to Internet Protocol Television
(IPTV).

Informa Telecoms and Media forecasts showed that those sectors will continue to grow impressively over the next five years. Adam Thomas, Media Research Manager said: "By 2015 there will be well over 400 million digital TV homes, including 40 million taking IPTV, which in turn will generate revenues of more than $40 billion."

Digital TV?

Sorry not on my priority list:D

una dapat ang 100mbps internet speed:D

kasi pag may hi speed internet, may TV online:D

ang bagal kasi ng NTC pumili ng standard na gagamitin. naghihintay pa yata ng tongpats sa mga hapon!

eh di ba pinili na nga ang Japanese standard?

^^ Ganyan naman yan eh. Alam nyo ba na noon, akala nila na ang Pilipinas ay hindi tatangkilikin ang cellphone. Ngayon, isa na siyang Texting capital of the world... Malay mo pagdating ng panahon, lalong dadami ang gagamit nun. :)

RP lags behind Asian neighbors in digital TV popularization :ohno:

(philstar.com) Updated July 09, 2010 12:15 AM

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) -- The Philippines lags behind other Asian countries and regions in the popularization of digital TV, according to the latest figures released Thursday by Informa Telecoms and Media, a leading provider of business intelligence and strategic services to the global telecoms and media markets.

The Philippines ranked second from the bottom of the list in terms of digital TV penetration, with just 5 percent in 2009, up from 1 percent in 2005. By 2015, the country's digital TV penetration will only climb to 21 percent.

Indonesia, which is at the bottom of the barrel, also had 1 percent penetration rate in 2005, increased to 2 percent last year and is to grow more than 14 percent by 2015.

On the other hand, Singapore, China's Hongkong, Australia and New Zealand are expected to attain 100 percent digital TV penetration by 2015. Another four regions are expected to have achieved a penetration rate of 70 percent or more - Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan.

Despite the global macro-economic difficulties, more than 35 million homes in Asia upgraded from analog to digital TV in 2009. Also in the year, 26 million new homes subscribed to pay TV, comprising 14 million to cable, 9 million to DTH and 3 million to Internet Protocol Television
(IPTV).

Informa Telecoms and Media forecasts showed that those sectors will continue to grow impressively over the next five years. Adam Thomas, Media Research Manager said: "By 2015 there will be well over 400 million digital TV homes, including 40 million taking IPTV, which in turn will generate revenues of more than $40 billion."

True.
Anyway, NTC has already chosen the Japanese format and the migration to ditigal Tv is coming soon.

ang bagal kasi ng NTC pumili ng standard na gagamitin. naghihintay pa yata ng tongpats sa mga hapon!

ano ba ikaw kaya ang nagpost ng article na japanese technology ang gagamitin :lol:

ano ba ikaw kaya ang nagpost ng article na japanese technology ang gagamitin :lol:

sa sobrang tagal kasi ng NTC pumili, nasa huli na ang pinas in dtv popularization, kung nakapag-decide na sila noon pa, di yan mangyayari. last month lang kasi na-finalize na japanese standard ang gagamitin, hence the low popularity of dtv here in our country.

di mo ba alam na phase out na ang DTV in 5 years?:D


kaya iba na ang uso pagdating ng panahon:D

sa sobrang tagal kasi ng NTC pumili, nasa huli na ang pinas in dtv popularization, kung nakapag-decide na sila noon pa, di yan mangyayari. last month lang kasi na-finalize na japanese standard ang gagamitin, hence the low popularity of dtv here in our country.

and its not too late. :)


Importante we are going to migrate to the new format.

And as added package yung ditigal box dito pa i-manufacture sa Pinas based dun sa mga news articles.:cheers:

Easycall seeks permit extension


Saturday, 10 July 2010 00:00
Manila Times

EASYCALL Communications Philippines Inc. has asked regulators to extend its permit for another three years to rollout broadband wireless access (BWA) service. In a filing with the National Telecommunications Commission, EasyCall is seeking an extension of its provisionary authority up to February 26, 2014.

The company’s permit will expire on February next year.

EasyCall said the extension would give it time to purchase equipment to roll out its BWA service.

The company said the installation in different strategic areas of operation will take several months.

In May, the regulator approved the company’s permit to provide BWA service and assigned 15 megahertz in frequency within the 3.4-gigahertz range.

With this, the company can start providing BWA or worldwide interoperability for microwave access.

In the first quarter, Easycall posted a net income of P0.32 million, reversing the P0.68-million net loss recorded during the same period last year as service income increased to P4.40 million from P3.68 million last year.
DARWIN G. AMOJELAR

lagi naman talo behind talaga. yon internet speed nga natin proud na proud yon 4 telco natin sa offer nila na 1 or 2 Mbps.

yon project ko, nadidilay dahil ang hirap maki-pag usap sa kanila ng mas mabilis na internet na share plan kahit mga 10 or 20 Mbps.

kumusta naman, nasa 50 to 100 Mbps na yan sa hongkong.

walang matinong internet service provider sa pilipinas. halos di umaabot sa published speed ang karamihan.

walang matinong internet service provider sa pilipinas. halos di umaabot sa published speed ang karamihan.

subscription ko ng PLDT is 2mbps pero nasa 5-6mbps ang nakukuha ko.

walang matinong internet service provider sa pilipinas. halos di umaabot sa published speed ang karamihan.

ako din PLDT DSL...pretty fast.

New administration set to face old ICT concerns

Businessworld Online
July 13, 2010

DICT and cybercrime bills pending in Congress await action

ALMOST two weeks have passed since President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III held a press conference to name his Cabinet members. When it comes to his pick for the country’s next information technology honcho, however, the new president has kept his silence. “[The CICT is] below Cabinet. There is [still] a debate whether to transform it into a department. There is a pending measure in the legislature transforming it into a department level position,” Mr. Aquino said during the press briefing.

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is a transition agency pending a resolution over the Senate Bill 2546, which seeks to create the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

The CICT was formed in 2004 through an executive order of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Its creation brought together the National Computer Center of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), the Telecommunications Office (TELOF) and the communications units of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC).

Despite the clamor for its enactment from the private sector, led by the foreign chambers and the top industry groups, and despite the fact that Mrs. Arroyo certified the bill as urgent, it was never passed at the Senate before the last Congress ended last February. The bill’s counterpart in the lower house was already approved in 2008.

In a briefing held at the Malacañang last week, CICT chairman Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III said most of the employees of the agency would continue to work while awaiting for new directives from Mr. Aquino.

Two days before the presidential inauguration, two of the agency’s top officials, Mr. Chua and CICT commissioner and National Computer Center director-general Angelo Timoteo M. Diaz de Rivera said they were ready to return to the private sector should the president appoint new officials.

With even the CICT at a standstill, the industry can only wait to see whether the Aquino administration puts a conclusion on one of the local technology sector’s longest-running sagas.

In an interview, TELOF executive director Graciano Sitchon said that now is the best time to review the proposal for DICT creation. “There could be something wrong in the way the bill was packaged [which could explain] why it has not yet been passed,” Mr. Sitchon said.

Among others, he said the supposedly anomalous $329-million national broadband network deal (NBN) with China’s ZTE Corp. has made it difficult for the bill to be enacted with both the public and politicians wary about technology-related transactions.

The NBN proposal has its roots in the vision of linking government agencies nationwide through a network which the CICT was espousing in its nascent days.

There was also the lack of appreciation by the Congress on the vital role that the proposed department could play in improving the economy of the country, said Maricor M. Akol, IT practitioner and president of industry group IT Foundation of the Philippines (ITFP).

Proponents of the DICT have repeatedly argued that most developed and progressive countries have DICT counterparts.

Ms. Akol surmised that the bill failed to get the Senate’s attention because there were “too many lawyers and a lack of technocrats in Congress,” adding that the “inability of CICT to come out with more convincing and pressing arguments to an disinterested Congress” was also a factor.

Meanwhile, groups lobbying against the creation of the DICT stressed that even without the department, the industry has been able to grow. To illustrate, the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, which started its ascent in 2000, has grown to become a $7.2-billion industry employing a total of 442,164 workers as of 2009, according to government data.

“The BPO sub-sector has developed despite having no DICT. I would even hazard that if there was a DICT bureaucracy, the BPO’s growth in the country may have been stunted,” said Bienvenido Oplas, Jr. in a separate interview. “A DICT is not a must, not a necessity for the industry.”

Mr. Oplas is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc., a group that proposes minimal government intervention in business.

“The government bureaucracy should shrink and be reduced, not expand. Each new bureaucracy that is created or expanded means new taxes and fees that need to be created or expanded. And each new bureaucracy means new politics from the executive to the legislative branches,” he added.

Ms. Akol countered this claim, saying that “while the private sector has grown despite the lack of a department, the existence of one could further help its growth through more aggressive policies.”

More than overseeing the business sector, she said the proposed DICT should be on top of the government’s use of technology, which is considered as the single biggest user of ICT.

“There must be an authority that not only comes out with ICT policies but must also be able to implement these policies at the most cost-efficient/effective means [such as] the sharing of facilities, databases and networks,” she said.

Despite the new administration’s lack of a firm commitment towards the creation of a DICT, the industry remains hopeful about the future ICT directives from the new tenant of the Malacañang.

“With the prominent role that ICT had in his being elected to his position, I think that President Aquino’s stand is not to have CICT abolished… allowing said agency to renew efforts to push ICT development and work for the passage of pending bills on ICT, namely the DICT Bill and the Cybercrime Bill,” Ms. Akol said.

The Cybercrime Bill aims to identify the various types of cybercrime and prescribe corresponding punishments, including strengthening the government agencies that are tasked to handle cybercrime.

It seems that all the industry can do is wait for the new Congress to open.

what i mean is yung sa mga wireless ISP's like smartbroken, witribe, tattoo, etc. :lol: puro di umaabot sa published speed!

napaka-inutil talaga ng mga telco natin. Parang in-house service lang na umaasa lang sa commercial power.

panay profit lang kasi nasa isip ng mga to at pag bili ng UPS and Solar Panel at Solar battery hindi inissip, Solar Panel with enough Solar battery can prodive 4 or 10 days Power without sunlight.

Walang inisip ang mga telco nato kundi kumita. po@tang ina nyo.

I got my UBNT radios:D

Bayan revises business plan
By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes (The Philippine Star) Updated July 21, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines – Lopez-owned Bayan Telecommunications is revising its business plan to focus more on the growing broadband and data market and less on the wireless landline business.

Bayan managing director Fred Bernardo told The STAR that the change in the company’s business plan is being made at the request of its creditors who believe that the plan should better reflect Bayan’s current business focus.

“Actually, while the current business plan focuses on the wireless landline business as the main driver, what we have been doing is devoting more of our resources to the broadband and data business,” he said.

He pointed out that Bayan’s new business model will be closer to the original model when the company first went into corporate rehabilitation in 2004. “Somewhere along the way, the model changed and adopted the wireless landline business as the main activity. But our wireless landline business is no longer attractive as it used to be,” he said.

Last year, around P250 million that was supposedly allocated for the expansion of the wireless landline network was scrapped.

The new business plan will be submitted to both the company’s creditors and the rehabilitation court for approval.

Bernardo also revealed that for the first six months of 2010, Bayan’s revenues dropped slightly by around 2.5 percent, but earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were stable compared to the same period last year and “better than budget.”

Of the company’s total revenues, more than 40 percent was generated from the broadband and data business.

And this year, of the P1.2 billion total capital expenditure, no amount was set aside for wireless landline.

Bernardo explained that because of the increasing competition in the wireless landline business, it is becoming more and more a losing proposition for Bayan.

“But we intend to keep the wireless landline business, but we will not expand it nor devote capital expenditure for it,” he said.

Bayan pioneered the wireless landline business in the country and it was a very profitable venture for the company then, but because bigger companies like Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Globe Telecom and Digital Telecommunications Phils. (Digitel) have also entered the business, this segment has stopped growing for Bayan.

“To break-even now, you need at least 300,000 subscribers. What we have right now is around 250,000 subscribers,” Bernardo pointed out.

On the other hand, he revealed that the data business, particularly corporate data, is becoming more and more attractive for the company.

He noted that based on their customer satisfaction survey, Bayan’s corporate data business fared much better compared to its competitors.

The new business plan, he said, will focus on growing both the wireless and wired (DSL) broadband business.

Bayan earlier said it expects to grow its broadband subscriber base by double-digit rates this year, sustaining last year’s performance.

Bayan vice president for business segment Aniceto Franco III said the company’s broadband base grew 40 percent in 2009 to more than 100,000 subscribers. “We expect to maintain that rate of growth, or maybe even surpass that,” he said.

Franco said the company has been investing heavily on the National Digital Transmission Network (NDTN), a network of fiber-optic cables spanning the length of the entire country.

The NDTN is owned by a consortium composed of  Bayan (65 percent), Smart Communications, Globe, Express Telecommunications (Extelcom), Eastern Telecommunications (ETPI), Philippine Telephone & Telegraph Co. (PT&T) and Digitel.

During the first quarter of 2010, Bayan trimmed its net loss to P464 million from P556 million a year ago while its revenues improved five percent to P1.64 billion from P1.56 billion.

However, for the first half of this year, revenues went down slightly, which Bernardo said is being experienced by most telecommunications companies due to the difficult economic situation.

Bernardo said the new business model will prove to be more profitable for Bayan, but the company has no plans of exiting from rehab earlier than 2023.

Bayan’s chief executive was earlier quoted as saying that they are considering the entry of potential investors. “The telecom business is a capital intensive industry so we need big investors,” he said.

The company’s total debt had reached $325 million and is scheduled for full payment in 2023. About 92 percent of the debts are dollar-denominated.

Bayan paid its creditors P498 million last month. Of this amount, principal payment amounted to P341 million while interest payment from April to June this year reached P157 million.

In all, the Lopez-owned phone firm posted P1.68 billion in principal payment and P3.61 billion in interest payment for a total of P5.30 billion since it went into rehabilitation in July 2004.

^^^^
More telecom players the better.

I hate the emerging oligopoly of PLDT (Smart, Talk and Text and Red Mobile), Globe (Touch Mobile and Globe) and Digitel (Digitel, Sun).

Liberty Telecom, Bayantel and Extelcom should come out and compete...:)

^^^^
More telecom players the better.

I hate the emerging oligopoly of PLDT (Smart, Talk and Text and Red Mobile), Globe (Touch Mobile and Globe) and Digitel (Digitel, Sun).

Liberty Telecom, Bayantel and Extelcom should come out and compete...:)

I'm actually using Bayantel for almost a year now in surfing. Good for its price.

Phase 9 of dmpi.. on going

IPv4 address exhaustion

Ivan Pepelnjak | July 16, 2010
SearchTelecom.com

Whether you choose to believe it or not, public IPv4 address space will be exhausted sometime in the next two years -- unless a miracle happens and the internet's early adopters return their Class A networks to the public pool, which would delay the inevitable by a few months or years. And what about the transition from IPv4 to IPv6?

So far, the whole internet ecosystem is successfully ignoring the impeding IPv4 address exhaustion catastrophe. Large carriers are slow to deploy IPv6 services since there's no demand for them. Low-end customer premise equipment (CPE) and mobile device makers are pretending IPv6 does not exist (as the only mobile devices supporting IPv6 on UMTS are the Symbian-based phones).

And most content providers probably don't even know what IPv6 is. Google and other big content providers are an obvious exception, since they don't want to lose a single visitor. Google will do whatever is necessary, including beginning their IPv6 transition as soon as possible.

The grim fact is that it will be impossible to get significant amounts of new public IPv4 address space in a few years. New devices (and users) will have to use IPv6 to connect to the Internet. And the very long tail -- the niche strategy of selling a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities -- of the content curve will not be directly accessible to these users.

The result? Even if service providers like Comcast try to be future-oriented, invest heavily in IPv6 and work with vendors to develop the standards and gear needed to deploy IPv6, they are stuck with the need to access IPv4 servers. Dual-stack deployment -- running IPv4 and IPv6 parallel to one another -- would be an ideal solution, if only we weren't approaching public IPv4 address exhaustion.

Faced with this unenviable situation and the total indifference of large parts of the IT industry, the networking experts turned to Network Address Translation (NAT), the tool that saved them 15 years ago, but even here they couldn't agree on a single workable approach.

Early solutions to link IPv4 and IPv6: Nice try

The need to link the IPv4 and IPv6 worlds was recognized more than a decade ago, resulting in the Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) Stateless IP/ICMP Translation Algorithm (SIIT) RFC 2765 and Network Address Translation -- Protocol Translation NAT-PT (RFC 2766) protocols. SIIT translates each IPv6 address into a unique IPv4 address, which is clearly useless when you're trying to solve the IPv4 address exhaustion problem.

NAT-PT did not fare any better. It tried to solve too many problems at once and failed miserably in solving any of them satisfactorily. It was rescinded in July 2007 (RFC 4966) and deemed an historic, yet defunct, document. But it's still the only translation mechanism between IPv6 and IPv4 implemented in production-grade equipment (including, among others, Juniper NetScreen and Cisco IOS devices, although NAT-PT on Cisco IOS has had a bit of a performance problem lately).

Ivan Pepelnjak is chief technology advisor at NIL Data Communications

just asking. are construction pics off cell site available here?.. thanks.

tower ba sinasabi mo? pagkakalam ko, tornilyo lang nila yun, assemble sa site:D

haha.. but this is skyscraper city.. some cell site towers are skyscrapers din??

okay i'll post some... ("p)

^^ I don't get it why does NTC is getting a STATE subsidies when in fact the industry they are regulating are earning billion of surplus in profits....??

State aid to GOCCs drops in June

The Manila Times.net
Saturday, 24 July 2010

STATE subsidies to non-financial government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell in June, the Bureau of the Treasury said on Friday. Last month, the national government only disbursed P183 million, or 90.6 percent lower than the P1.94 billion released in the same period a year ago.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority got the lion’s share of financial support at P92 million, followed by the National Livelihood and Development Corp. at P65 million, and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) at P8 million.

The remaining amount was shared among the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), National Dairy Authority, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), Southern Philippines Development Authority, and the Lung Center of the Philippines.a

Despite the drop in last month’s subsidies, state aid to GOCCs were still seven percent higher at P7.466 billion in the first semester, as against last year’s P6.981 billion.

For the first six months, the National Food Authority enjoyed the biggest aid at P2.85 billion, followed by National Housing Authority with P1.87 billion, and National Telecommunications Commission with P1.025 billion. The fourth biggest recipient was the National Livelihood Development Corp. at P980 million.

The Philippine Coconut Authority received P244 million, while the Philippine Rice Research Institute, P174 million.

State-owned hospitals such as the NKTI, PHC and the PCMC received P169 million, P139 million and P109 million, respectively.

On Thursday, the Department of Finance vowed that it would stick to this year’s budget deficit cap of P325 billion, as it would seriously look into those GOCCs that have been a financial strain on the national government.
Katrina Mennen A. Valdez

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/7851/img0234tp.th.jpg (http://img821.imageshack.us/i/img0234tp.jpg/)

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puede mag patayo ng mura lang na tower? nag pa quote ako, ang mahal. milyons din pala gagastusin doon:D

kaya sa bundok ko na lang lagay yung radio ko.

Which gov't department controls licensing for VSAT installations? Are there any online links to the forms and/or procedures to get a license?

I'm planning on putting my own broadband link via satellite for a small island resort I live at in Palawan. There is no mobile signals there so, no 3G.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

satellite is my last option.

you can use microwave radios to send DSL broadband to remote areas. you can source DSL as far as Cebu province. as long as there's line of sight between the source and the site.

I believe your VSAT provider should take care for that..

Which gov't department controls licensing for VSAT installations? Are there any online links to the forms and/or procedures to get a license?

I'm planning on putting my own broadband link via satellite for a small island resort I live at in Palawan. There is no mobile signals there so, no 3G.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

Affordable ba yong price ?

I got my UBNT radios:D

Which gov't department controls licensing for VSAT installations? Are there any online links to the forms and/or procedures to get a license?

I'm planning on putting my own broadband link via satellite for a small island resort I live at in Palawan. There is no mobile signals there so, no 3G.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

NTC I think:)

Which gov't department controls licensing for VSAT installations? Are there any online links to the forms and/or procedures to get a license?

I'm planning on putting my own broadband link via satellite for a small island resort I live at in Palawan. There is no mobile signals there so, no 3G.

Thanks to anyone who can help!
NTC.
But the provider will take care of everything.

Try Ipstar. not sure if Palawan is covered.
Muntik na akong makapag subscribe ng Ipstar, buti na lang na delay pa ang pag dating ng dish nila, kasi hindi maganda ang latency at performance ng sat internet.

I'm gonna be deploying my last mile broadband access in Leyte. I have already tested the equipments here in Manila. So far so good.
First week of August siguro ma install na to.

If you're interested, just PM me.


Affordable ba yong price ?

Yeah, it's way cheaper than any other wireless solutions.

satellite is my last option.

you can use microwave radios to send DSL broadband to remote areas. you can source DSL as far as Cebu province. as long as there's line of sight between the source and the site.

At the moment, satellite is the only option. No line of site to any provider unless i build a tower..... no thanks!!!

Satellite costs, for broadband, have come way down since IPStar started services. Anyway, the resort guests actually pay for it, I just ride along on the connection as the provider to the resort!! :banana:

I believe your VSAT provider should take care for that..

Actually, I'm my own provider. I have my own VSAT with an iDirect modem. There are 2 providers out of Hong Kong, Speedcast and ABS, that have quoted me plans and another provider out of Australia, that has quoted me as well. All are close to IPStar but, have a lot better bandwidth and contention rate, for the price!

So, I'll just purchase direct from them, I just need to know the procedure to get the license... Of course, I could just forget the license and go without it.... who's gonna know?? :)

I would like to make it legal.....

@ajkenney how much bandwidth you need ? There is a new low latency satellite internet sol'n but i think this one is for ISPs.

http://www.o3bnetworks.com/

NM-ArVxriwY

eYgkZlt2gUY

tT6su2uQTJ0


Actually, I'm my own provider. I have my own VSAT with an iDirect modem. There are 2 providers out of Hong Kong, Speedcast and ABS, that have quoted me plans and another provider out of Australia, that has quoted me as well. All are close to IPStar but, have a lot better bandwidth and contention rate, for the price!

So, I'll just purchase direct from them, I just need to know the procedure to get the license... Of course, I could just forget the license and go without it.... who's gonna know?? :)

I would like to make it legal.....

how low is that?

@ajkenney how much bandwidth you need ? There is a new low latency satellite internet sol'n but i think this one is for ISPs.

http://www.o3bnetworks.com/

Actually, this service will be for anyone from ISP's and corporations to individual users but, it's not available yet. The satellites haven't been built or launched yet!

Either way, I still would like to make it all legal so, I'll have to keep looking for the answer. I'll probably have to visit the NTC to get the answers but, that always means some money into somebody's pocket. Nothing has any value until somebody else wants it!! :bash:

Some of the satellites already been built but the constellation is not yet complete :)

You should visit the nearest regional NTC office for your concern :)


LhI-iFXyzrM

Actually, this service will be for anyone from ISP's and corporations to individual users but, it's not available yet. The satellites haven't been built or launched yet!

Either way, I still would like to make it all legal so, I'll have to keep looking for the answer. I'll probably have to visit the NTC to get the answers but, that always means some money into somebody's pocket. Nothing has any value until somebody else wants it!! :bash:

how low is that?

120ms roundrip (ground to ground daw same location)

We are a bit (remote) far from the city also, no DSL, cable and other wireless internet service except 3G, luckily still have a decent 3G signal from Smart and Globe 3G and luckily its HSDPA. My problem is I dont have the signal when I get iinside the house, so I bought a 850Mhz to 2100 Mhz omni 6db antenna and place my router/modem outside the house. So far It's been working well...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4826376883_0255a29309.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4826377089_a87194fd6a.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4826376987_579fbcb3da.jpg

wow, 120ms, that would be a big jump from their current 1000+ms latency:D


my current setup

I am using a 3G/HSDPA pico repeater. Cellsite distance is 7km non line of site. You can see this inside malls, parking areas, basement etc... It's a bit pricey though.

No signal without this repeater.

Soon to be replaced with microwave radios.

wow, saan kaba located pre ? ehehehe

my current setup

I am using a 3G/HSDPA pico repeater. Cellsite distance is 7km non line of site. You can see this inside malls, parking areas, basement etc... It's a bit pricey though.

No signal without this repeater.

Soon to be replaced with microwave radios.

I have a small biz here in Manila but my wireless projects will be in Leyte.

Share naman some photos soon of your installation :) I can remember googling those equipment before and you are right those were expensive :)

I have a small biz here in Manila but my wireless projects will be in Leyte.

Share naman some photos soon of your installation :) I can remember googling those equipment before and you are right those were expensive :)


del.


post ko mamaya, uwi muna ng bahay. hehehe

Which gov't department controls licensing for VSAT installations? Are there any online links to the forms and/or procedures to get a license?

I'm planning on putting my own broadband link via satellite for a small island resort I live at in Palawan. There is no mobile signals there so, no 3G.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

you don't have to.

VSAT provider in the philippines is licensed to offer their service.

i have my own project too. my original plan is to use VSAT but VSAT installation is very expensive and latency issue. so i decided to negotiate business grade DSL from digitel in Bulan but we'll need build two tower to transport the signal but still cheaper than VSAT and we can run online games without latency issue.

you can visit our website: http://www.adamos.org
http://i49.tinypic.com/n4jywx.jpg

Actually, I'm my own provider. I have my own VSAT with an iDirect modem. There are 2 providers out of Hong Kong, Speedcast and ABS, that have quoted me plans and another provider out of Australia, that has quoted me as well. All are close to IPStar but, have a lot better bandwidth and contention rate, for the price!

So, I'll just purchase direct from them, I just need to know the procedure to get the license... Of course, I could just forget the license and go without it.... who's gonna know?? :)

I would like to make it legal.....

what kind of license do you need?

license to become legal WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider) if so, you don't have to acquire does license because when you become WISP, it just a VAS (Value Added Service), just fill-up the VAS form from NTC and pay 30,000.00 every five year to make your WISP legal.

No need for license.

puede mag patayo ng mura lang na tower? nag pa quote ako, ang mahal. milyons din pala gagastusin doon:D

kaya sa bundok ko na lang lagay yung radio ko.

maraming klasi ng tower.

pwedi steel pole.

in my case, Steel Pole ipapagawa ko para hindi masyado mabigat sa bulsa. marami akong tower design, let me know your budget for tower construction.

NTC junks VoM bid to extend license (http://www.tribuneonline.org/business/20100726bus3.html)

07/26/2010

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has denied the request of VoM (Voice of Manila) Broadcasting Corp. for the extension or renewal of its provisional authority (PA) to install, operate and maintain a wireless cable television system with the use of multi-channel multi-point distribution system.

In a unanimous order signed by NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba and Deputy Commissioners Jaime Fortes Jr. and Douglas Michael Mallillin, VoM’s motion for extension or renewal of its PA was denied for lack of merit.

“After painstaking examination of the facts and evidence presented, this commission fins no cogent reason to extend the Provisional Authority of VoM since it failed to comply with the terms and conditions of its PA,” the NTC said.

Last Oct. 9, the NTC’s Broadcast Service Division recommeneded that VoM’s motion be dismissed for its failure to implement the terms and conditions for the PA.

VoM’s frequencies are being pursued by shareholder Jaime Zarraga who was recently arrested during one of his court appearances by the National Bureau of Investigation on the strength of 262 arrest warrants issued against him for 759 counts of estafa and illegal recruitment.

“VoM failed to commence its roll-out plan as essentially required in its PA. This fact is bolstered by VoM’s non-submission of its annual reports and its failure to pay the Supervision and Regulation Fees during the duration of its PA,” the NTC noted.

It added that VoM’s failure to construct and install its station within six months from the issuance of its PA “can be construed as VoM’s lack of intent or its incapacity to operate and maintain wireless cable television and radio broadcast with the use of MMDS in the service areas proposed.”

The NTC pointed out that its records show that VoM had only applied for a permit to purchase its transmitter after the expiration of its PA.

“Indubitably, the intention to purchase the needed equipment for its operations is just a mere afterthought on the part of VoM— a belated show of interest in its application,” said the NTC.

VoM was granted an 18-month PA to operate the MMDS system in Metro Manila, Bulacan and Calabarzon but failed to start operations by the time the PA lapsed on Oct. 15, 2004.

The firm claimed hat it failed to start operations because it was still negotiating for the acquisition of the transmitter needed and also blamed currency fluctuations and worldwide recessions and global terrorism which prompted it to take a “wait and see attitude.”

On Aug. 6, 2005, citing the need to keep pace with the rapid development of broadband wireless technologies and to ensure wider access to limited spectrum, the NTC issued a memorandum circular re-allocating several frequency bands, including the frequencies previously assigned to VoM, for a new service called broadband wireless access.

I have a small biz here in Manila but my wireless projects will be in Leyte.

are you planning the same project?

120ms roundrip (ground to ground daw same location)

We are a bit (remote) far from the city also, no DSL, cable and other wireless internet service except 3G, luckily still have a decent 3G signal from Smart and Globe 3G and luckily its HSDPA. My problem is I dont have the signal when I get iinside the house, so I bought a 850Mhz to 2100 Mhz omni 6db antenna and place my router/modem outside the house. So far It's been working well...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4826376883_0255a29309.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4826377089_a87194fd6a.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4826376987_579fbcb3da.jpg

parang ang ganda ng bahay mo ah. hehehe:D

you're lucky enough, you don't need a pico repeater to get decent HSDPA signal.




are you planning the same project?

hopefully, if the first one is a success:D

^^ mura lang kasi ang lupain dito, less 300T per hectare unlike Millions sa subdivisions :) so na punta lahat ng budget sa bahay mismo :) disadvantage lang wireless lahat, phone(bayantel), tv(satellite), internet(3G), buti nalang may electricity :nuts:


parang ang ganda ng bahay mo ah. hehehe:D

you're lucky enough, you don't need a pico repeater to get decent HSDPA signal.

saan ba yan?

so helicopter din sasakayan papunta sa town proper?:D j/k

Mag swimming ka muna ng 3 ilog para maka rating sa bahay namin LOL (O.T.)

saan ba yan?

so helicopter din sasakayan papunta sa town proper?:D j/k

parang ang ganda ng bahay mo ah. hehehe:D

you're lucky enough, you don't need a pico repeater to get decent HSDPA signal.



hopefully, if the first one is a success:D

how about your outdoor radio? i can recommend some radio and cheap but reliable.

42qmX9czUzU&feature=player_embedded

SMART's NEW PROMO OFFER

^^ so meaning crawling speed smartbro natin nito this friday dahil tra trapik :lol:

^^ so meaning crawling speed smartbro natin nito this friday dahil tra trapik :lol:

wala pa bang wimax sa area nyo?



kumuha kasi ako ng 1mbps subscription sa globe dito sa Manila, ok namn:D

^^ meron under globe wimax pro pina check ko na sa installer walang signal sa bahay namin, same with smartbro yong canopy walang signal din, as in 3G lang talaga available. :ohno:

yung cable type di rin pede?

Cable TV, landline service disruption looms :ohno:

The Manila Times.net
Friday, 30 July 2010 00:00
By DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER

HUNDREDS of thousands of paying Bayan and Skycable subscribers risk losing their signals if their service providers fail to renew their contracts with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) for the use of the power distributor’s ubiquitous poles. The country’s largest power distributor on Thursday warned that beginning August 1 it will exercise its legal right to disconnect from its electric poles all cable attachments of telecom and cable TV service providers whose contracts have expired.

“All persons and entities who may be affected by the disconnection of the cable attachments are advised to take proper precautionary measures to prevent or minimize whatever inconvenience may arise,” Meralco said.

Meralco said it will not assume liability for any damage or loss that may result from the exercise of its property and contractual rights.

The group of Manuel Pangilinan, which controls Meralco through Metro Pacific Investment Corp. and Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, also owns Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

Meralco’s move will disrupt the services of Bayan Telecommunications Inc.—a PLDT rival—and Sky Cable Inc. as both Lopez-controlled firms have yet to renew their contract with the electricity distributor.

The Lopez group used to own Meralco before they sold a controlling stake to the Pangilinan group at a time when the San Miguel Corp. was trying to make a hostile takeover of the distribution utility.

“We have written Meralco formally to tell them that we are committed to sign the contract and just need the formality of board approval,” John Rojo, Bayan vice president for corporate brands and communication, said.

Rojo said Bayan and Skycable’s electric pole contracts will expire this year.

SkyCable has about 500,000 subscribers nationwide, of which 200,000 are in Metro Manila. Bayan has more than 400,000 customers nationwide, with 250,000 in Metro Manila.

Yoly Crisanto, Globe Telecom Inc. head of corporate communications, said her company won’t be affected by Meralco’s planned disconnection of third-party riders to the utility’s electric poles.

“Globe has its own poles in Metro Manila, so we will not be affected [by] Meralco’s move if ever,” she said.

In areas outside Metro Manila, Globe’s electric poles contract is valid until 2012, she added.

Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. and Destiny Cable were unavailable for comment as this went to press.

All fixed line telcos and cable TV companies are using Meralco poles in their franchise areas in Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Rizal and Quezon.

Earlier, PLDT announced that it will use Meralco’s poles and and fiber optic network to provide Internet connectivity or broadband over power lines (BPL) directly to 4.5 million households.

BPL is one of the potential business synergies that PLDT and Meralco are exploring.

By piggybacking on Meralco’s existing infrastructure, PLDT would save about P8 billion in capital outlay needed to set up its own poles, excluding rights of way and maintenance.

CICT, NTC won't be under DOTC

By Mary Ann LL. Reyes (The Philippine Star)
Updated August 02, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose de Jesus disclosed over the weekend that the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will not be under the control and supervision of his department but will be indirectly under the Office of the President.

In an interview, De Jesus also hinted that proposals to convert the CICT to a department may not get the backing of the current administration.

“But everything is still under review. Anything is possible,” he pointed out.

He said CICT will still be under the Office of the President (OP) and the NTC under its supervision.

The CICT was created in 2004, by virtue of EO 269, signed by then President Arroyo as a transitory measure to the creation of a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

It is composed of the National Computer Center (NCC), the Telecommunications Office (TELOF), and all other operating units of the DOTC dealing with communications. The NTC and the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) were also attached to the CICT for policy coordination. The CICT took over the functions of the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC), which was subsequently abolished through EO no. 334. CICT was originally under the OP.

EO 454 issued in 2005, transferred the NTC back to the DOTC. According to EO 454, the transfer “will streamline bureaucracy operations.” While the reasons for the transfer were unclear, there were discussions that placing the NTC under the CICT would be a bureaucratic anomaly since it is unusual for a commission to fall under another commission.

Then in Feb. 2007, EO 603, the TELOF and all other operating units of the CICT dealing with communications were transferred back to the DOTC. According to EO 603, the transfer “is necessitated by the present demands of national development and concomitant development projects as it will streamline bureaucracy operations and effectively promote fast, efficient and reliable networks of communication system and services.” The transfer of the TELOF to the DOTC left the CICT with just two agencies – the NCC and the PhilPost.

EO 648, signed on August 6, 2007 but published only on Dec. 24, 2008, transferred the NTC back to the CICT.

Another subsequent issuance, EO 780 signed on Jan. 29, 2009, transferred the TELOF and all other operating units of the DOTC dealing with communications back to the CICT.

Several bills have filed in Congress for the creation of the CICT. While there has been support in the House of Representatives, the proposal always manages to get killed in Senate.

Various groups are also supporting the creation of a DICT, in order to give the ICT sector the importance it deserves.

The Joint Foreign Chambers, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, the Contact Center Association of the Philippines, the Management Association of the Philippines, and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry were all pushing for the creation of a DICT even prior to the May polls.

In a letter to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate committee on science and technology chair Edgardo Angara, the groups said having a DICT would enable the country “to become the premier global location in East Asia for IT-enabled services,” as well as allow the government to better deliver services to Filipinos nationwide.

For its part, the Joint Foreign Chambers said the country must address the challenges and opportunities to become a larger player in this dynamic and ever-changing industry. “Major issues facing the sector are human resources, intellectual property rights, security, data protection, quality management and standards, all of which require high-level interfaces with other departments of the Philippine government and other domestic and international organizations,” the JFC said.

The JFC said communications and transportation are vital infrastructure functions for the country that should logically be the responsibility of separate departments.

“The ease and cost of doing business, the overall investment climate and, indeed, the daily life of every Filipino are vitally affected by the performance of each of these departments,” the JFC said.

De Jesus: DOTC plate too full for NTC

BusinessMirror Philippines
Written by Lenie Lectura / Reporter
Monday, 02 August 2010 21:42

TRANSPORTATION and Communications Secretary Jose de Jesus said it’s best for the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) not to be transferred back to his department because he already has his hands full on transportation-related matters. “The DOTC is already too large as it is. No, I don’t have any intention of getting it back.”

Control of the NTC was transferred to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) by Executive Order 648 issued by former President Gloria Arroyo on August 6, 2007 (released by the Malacañang Records Office on December 23, 2008).

The NTC is currently headed by Gamaliel Cordoba, who assumed his post in August last year, and deputy commissioners Douglas Michael Mallillin, who joined the NTC in April last year, and Jaime Fortes.

Some reports have it the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Ayala-led companies will be represented in the NTC, as well as broadcaster ABS-CBN. However, there has been no formal announcement from Malacañang.

Ronald Solis, former NTC commissioner, agrees the NTC should no longer be under the DOTC. “DOTC is too big and can’t handle special technical concerns of NTC. The proposed DICT [Department of Information and Communications Technology] should be created.”

Under the proposed bill, the proposed DICT would be spun off from the DOTC. In effect, all existing DOTC offices dealing with communications would either be built into or attached to the DICT, including the NTC and the Philippine Postal Corp. The National Computer Center, now assigned to the Department of Science and Technology, would also be ceded to the DICT.

“The DOTC’s administrative and jurisdictional foundations can no longer cope with the rapid advances in Information and communications technologies [ICT]. Thus, the need to establish a wholly new, full-grown department to deal with ICT matters exclusively,” said former congressman Joseph Santiago of Catanduanes, one of the bill endorsers.

Santiago, himself a former chief of the NTC, said the new department would “promote a policy environment of fairness, broad private-sector participation in ICT development, and balanced investment between high-growth and economically depressed districts.”

The bill defines ICT as “the aggregate of all electronic means to collect, store, process and present information to end-users in support of their activities.”

The bill seeks to accelerate development of convergent networks of ICT facilities, universal access and high-speed connectivity at fair and reasonable cost, ample ICT services in areas not sufficiently served by the private sector, widespread use and application of emerging ICT, a strong and effective regulatory system, adequate consumer protection, as well as free and fair competition, assure abundant human resources for ICT development, incentives to grow ICT industries, protection of the right to privacy, and ICT support for culture, education, as well as public health and safety.

ICT consists of computer systems, office channels and consumer electronics, as well as networked information infrastructure, the components of which include the telephone system, the Internet and satellite/cable television.

Bucket price offers affect telco incomes

BusinessMirror Philippines
Written by Lenie Lectura / Reporter
Tuesday, 03 August 2010 20:13

WHAT has made the cellular firms wealthy in the past years could be reducing their incomes now.

Unlimited bucket price offerings have indeed been popular for consumers for many years now but it seems that the popularity no longer translates to profitability.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which handled over 1 billion text messages and more than 100 million minutes of calls every day for the past six months, said text revenues have declined by 14 percent despite increasing volumes.

Text volumes and voice calls from January to June this year were higher by 27 percent and 279 percent year-on-year, respectively. However, yields have declined to P0.12 per text and P1.25 per minute of voice on higher traffic volumes.

“It’s a function of price because Smart added net additions of 4 million subscribers in the first half and we have seen the effect in revenues which is basically neutral. In the past, this could have driven much higher revenues. And the average price per text is now down to P0.12 and the lowest price for bucket pricing is down to P0.04 per text. So, unless the industry works itself out to have a more productive scheme then we will see this behavior on text revenues,” said PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said during the presentation of its first-half financial results for the year.

Close to 90 to 95 percent of the text messages processed by PLDT’s cellular network today are enrolled in various unlimited offer promotions. As such, PLDT president Napoleon Nazareno said, “We are nearing that bottom as far as revenues are concerned.”

Still, PLDT plans to continue offering unlimited pricing schemes because the average revenue per user is still much higher than the subscriber acquisition cost. “So, as far as we are concerned, the more the better for us to take on more subscribers or as much SIM enrollment as we can,” Nazareno explained.

Meanwhile, Globe Telecom Inc.—which posted a 25-percent drop in core net income at end-June to P5.2 billion from P6.9 billion  and a much lower net income to P5.1 billion from P7.2 billion—continued to churn out marginal subscribers.

Globe’s consolidated service revenues for the first half of the year was P30.7 billion, down 3 percent from last year’s P31.7 billion. Despite an increase in traffic and overall usage, Globe’s mobile revenues were lower with sustained price pressures resulting from intense competition and subscribers’ increasing preference for lower-yield bucket and unlimited promotions.  The appreciation of the peso likewise weighed down the company’s revenues, with US dollar-linked revenues comprising 28 percent of consolidated revenues during the period

“Our first-half results are reflective of the challenges facing the industry—traffic is growing, but revenues are declining with the market’s increasing preference for unlimited services.  Competition is becoming more intense, and will likely further intensify as the market slows,” said Globe president Ernest Cu.

The key to protecting Globe’s business, said Cu, is to “differentiate ourselves from competition by providing superior end-to-end customer service.”

“We have strong brands with good value propositions, a large and loyal retail and corporate subscriber base, and an extensive and robust network,” he said, adding that the company’s immediate goal is to recover revenue market share in our mobile business. 

PLDT, which posted yesterday a reported net income of P21.7 billion in the first half of the year from P19.7 billion in the same period last year, is moving “beyond the verticality of the traditional business telco business model” to a more “horizontal perspective via our strategic platform and infrastructure investments.”

Both officials said this will offset the decline in text revenues.

“We have to look at the horizontal aspects of the telco industry. We are really looking at related business more or less along the same plane,” said Pangilinan.

Smart, which ended the first half of the year with 45.3 million subscribers, offers free Internet to its subscribers every Friday. This, Nazareno said, will help offset the decline in text revenues. “We are promoting mobile internet. The mobile Internet popularity will be the one that will offset the decline in SMS (short message service) revenues. More or less, this will prevail in the ensuing months,” said the PLDT president.

Nazareno said the PLDT group has implemented control mechanisms to prevent usage abuse and protect regular subscriber’s quality of service as it lowers the cost of delivery for unlimited service. “We are doing it in a carefully crafted manner as far as our network is concerned.”

The company’s service revenues decreased by 1 percent to P72.2 billion due to a 5-percent decline in data and ICT revenues largely as a result of the 13-percent decline in cellular data/SMS revenues. However, voice revenues grew 3 percent and broadband/internet and corporate data revenues rose 21 percent. Mobile phone service revenue accounted for two-thirds of the group’s service revenue in the first half.

This year, the PLDT group may see service revenues growing by 2 percent from P145.6 billion in 2009. Its core net income for 2010 is expected to be slightly higher than the P41 billion in 2009 resulting from the increase in revenues, the contribution from its investment in Meralco, and lower income tax provision.

“With first half results being encouraging, core profit guidance for 2010 is in excess of P41 billion and capital investments should remain at P28.6 billion. While we believe that there is still room for growth in the broadband space, we do recognize that our core markets are maturing,” Pangilinan said.

Telcos, cable firms renew contract

By DARWIN G. AMOJELAR
The Manila Times.net
Wednesday, 11 August 2010

THE looming service interruption of major telecom and cable firms has been averted, after some of the companies piggy-backing on the electric poles of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) have renewed their contracts with the utility. In a text message, Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco external communications manager, said Bayan Telecommunications Inc., Sky Cable, Eastern Telecommunications Phils. Inc., Smart Communications Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Globe Telecom Inc. and Destiny Cable have renewed their respective contracts to use the power distributor’s electric poles.

Zaldrriaga said the new contracts cover the period until December 31, 2011.

John Rojo, Bayan vice president for corporate brands and communication, confirmed that Sky Cable and Bayan already renewed their respective contracts with Meralco.

Zaldrriaga said talks are ongoing for the renewal of Digital Telecommunications Phils. Inc. (Digitel) contract with Meralco.

He said 17 out of the 91 pole users have yet to renew their contracts.

“They have either not renewed or expressed intention to renew. We have given them ample and sufficient time to renew having said that we will enforce whatever is stated in [the] notice [of disconnection],” the Meralco official said.

All fixed-line telcos and cable TV companies use Meralco poles in their franchise areas in Metro Manila and in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Rizal and Quezon.

Last month, the country’s largest power distributor warned that beginning August 1 it will exercise its legal right to disconnect from its electric poles all cable attachments of telecom and cable TV service providers whose contracts had expired.

Meralco said it would not assume liability for any damage or loss that may result from the exercise of its property and contractual rights.

The group of Manuel Pangilinan, which controls Meralco through Metro Pacific Investment Corp. and Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, also owns Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

Earlier, PLDT announced that it will use Meralco’s poles and fiber optic network to provide Internet connectivity or broadband over power lines (BPL) directly to 4.5 million households.

BPL is one of the potential business synergies that PLDT and Meralco are exploring.

By piggybacking on Meralco’s existing infrastructure, PLDT would save about P8 billion in capital outlay needed to set up its own poles, excluding rights of way and maintenance.

SMC buys Bell, secures cellular capability


By JAMES A. LOYOLA
August 16, 2010, 4:37pm
Manila Bulletin

San Miguel Corporation, thru its wholly-owned subsidiary, Vega Telecom, Inc., has acquired a controlling stake in Bell Telecommunication Philippines, Inc. – to beef up its telecommunications investments with a cellular network service.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMC said Vega subscribed to new shares of stock of Two Cassandra-CCI Conglomerates, Inc. (TCCI), Perchpoint Holdings Corporation (PHC) and Power Smart Capital Limited (PSCL) on July 30, 2010.

Through these subscriptions, Vega shall own up to 75 percent of the outstanding capital stock of the said corporations. TCCI, PHC and PSCL collectively own 100 percent of the outstanding capital stock of BellTel.

Two Cassandra once owned a minimal stake in Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc., which was bought by San Miguel Corporation, together with partner Qatar Telecoms Inc., last year.

Belltel is a grantee of a franchise to install, operate and maintain local exchange networks and wireless local loop (WLL) in several areas including special economic zones, inter-exchange networks, nationwide VSAT network, international gateway facilities, and cellular mobile telecommunications network.

The National Telecommunications Commission had earlier approved the transfer of ownership of BellTel to Two Cassandra-CCI Conglomerates Inc. – paving the way for a P3.6 billion cash infusion.

In its order dated February 3, 2010, the NTC said allowing Two Cassandra to own 100 percent of Belltel will allow the infusion of “needed capital to expand its (Belltel’s) existing infrastructure and build new infrastructures to be able to contend in the highly competitive telecommunications market.”

Among documents submitted to the NTC to show their financial capability were banks’ certifications that Belltel has an existing deposit amounting to P315.4 millon while Two Cassandra has a deposit of P3.6 billion.

Mobile broadband seen growing by 300%

Business Insight Malaya
BY MYLA IGLESIAS
August 20, 2010

The number of mobile broadband users in the country is expected grow by more than 300 percent this year, driven by Filipinos’ penchant for visiting social networking sites (SNN) and lower prices of devices and mobile connections, according to National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) official.

Edgardo Cabarrios, director of NTC’s common and carrier authorization division, said telecommunication firms are projecting the same growth for mobile broadband.

Data from the NTC showed that the country’s wireless broadband subscribers stood by about 1.5 million subscribers. Mobile broadband services include the Globe Telecom Inc’s Tattoo and Smart Communications Inc’s SmartBro respectively.

Telecom firms hope that the broadband revenues will offset the decline in SMS and voice revenues by next year.

Cabarrios said the mobile broadband revenues are expected to overtake the revenue contribution of major telecom services in the call and text services in the next two years as prices of devices continue to decline.

Cabarrios said the country’s mobile phone subscribers will reach more than 83 million or a 10 percent increase from last year’s 75.5 million.

Last year’s cellular phone subscribers were up by about 11 percent compared to the previous year’s 68 million according to data from the NTC.

Cabarrios explained that the number of subscribers can even reach more than 100 percent penetration rate due to the multiple SIM card users. The unlimited promos and bucket offering have triggered subscribers to acquire more than one SIM card as it became cheaper to calls and text messages within the same network.

Of the total 75.5 million subscribers, half are multiple users, the NTC said.

SMC buys Bell, secures cellular capability


By JAMES A. LOYOLA
August 16, 2010, 4:37pm
Manila Bulletin

San Miguel Corporation, thru its wholly-owned subsidiary, Vega Telecom, Inc., has acquired a controlling stake in Bell Telecommunication Philippines, Inc. – to beef up its telecommunications investments with a cellular network service.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMC said Vega subscribed to new shares of stock of Two Cassandra-CCI Conglomerates, Inc. (TCCI), Perchpoint Holdings Corporation (PHC) and Power Smart Capital Limited (PSCL) on July 30, 2010.

Through these subscriptions, Vega shall own up to 75 percent of the outstanding capital stock of the said corporations. TCCI, PHC and PSCL collectively own 100 percent of the outstanding capital stock of BellTel.

Two Cassandra once owned a minimal stake in Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc., which was bought by San Miguel Corporation, together with partner Qatar Telecoms Inc., last year.

Belltel is a grantee of a franchise to install, operate and maintain local exchange networks and wireless local loop (WLL) in several areas including special economic zones, inter-exchange networks, nationwide VSAT network, international gateway facilities, and cellular mobile telecommunications network.

The National Telecommunications Commission had earlier approved the transfer of ownership of BellTel to Two Cassandra-CCI Conglomerates Inc. – paving the way for a P3.6 billion cash infusion.

In its order dated February 3, 2010, the NTC said allowing Two Cassandra to own 100 percent of Belltel will allow the infusion of “needed capital to expand its (Belltel’s) existing infrastructure and build new infrastructures to be able to contend in the highly competitive telecommunications market.”

Among documents submitted to the NTC to show their financial capability were banks’ certifications that Belltel has an existing deposit amounting to P315.4 millon while Two Cassandra has a deposit of P3.6 billion.

has NOKIA (north) and ERICSSON (south) won the bids for this project's equipments? thanks..

Cell Sites

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shot by me - kikodj

meron ba ditong subscriber ng Globe Wimax? is it worth it or depende lang talaga sa location?

meron ako. depende rin siguro sa lugar. meron din kasi disconnection kahit may signal naman.

Globe Telecom eyes more promos to protect market share

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. said yesterday it was picking up in terms of revenues but more are needed to be done to get a larger market share.

Ernest L. Cu, Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer, told reporters aggressive promotions and bucket-priced offers have increased sales.

“We have to compete for the market share, protect existing [customers], and expand [the share]. Be ready for more promos from us as part of our aggressive efforts to compete for that market share,” he said.

Globe Telecom profits went down by 29.17% in the first half to P5.1 billion from P7.2 billion last year. Core net income, which excludes foreign exchange and market-to-market charges as well as nonrecurring items, stood at P5.2 billion, 24.64% lower than last year’s P6.9 billion.

Last month, Globe Telecom claimed to have grabbed a more than 50% market share in value-added services in the first six months of the year, citing “encouraging growth in mobile Internet usage and the number of mobile browsers.”

On Wednesday, the company launched a Web site in partnership with the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Community Development Foundation. Also launched was a new subscriber identification module card that will allow users particularly from GK’s housing projects to get information on the foundation’s activities. -- A. M. P. Dagcutan

source
(http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=17100)

Globe pushes interconnection with other telcos

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. wants to beef up interconnection with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Bayan Telecommunications Inc. (Bayantel), and Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (Digitel) this year in key cities outside the National Capital Region.

Froilan Castelo, Globe Telecom's head of corporate and legal services, said in a statement the company wanted to complete more interconnection agreements by the end of this year.

"Even if competition in the local telecommunication industry is intense, we must be able to put this aside for the public good. Interconnection is a win-win for everyone," he said. Globe Telecom pointed out that interconnection meant residents and business establishments in the provinces and cities can make local calls to other telcos without extra charges.

"Without interconnection, a Globe Telecom landline subscriber has to pay long-distance rates to call a Digitel, PLDT or Bayantel landline subscriber within the same area, and vice-versa," it said.

The company plans to pursue interconnection talks with PLDT for Zamboanga City, Baguio, and Pampanga within this year, he said. "The interconnection plans are done following the successful interconnection of the two telecommunication companies in Davao City last July. Also in the lineup are Laguna, La Union and Batangas," Globe Telecom said.

Globe Telecom also said it wanted interconnection with Digitel for the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Nueva Vizcaya, Bataan, Lucena, Quezon, and Camarines Norte by end of 2010, after the link-up of their local networks in Zambales and Isabela last month.

"[When] the last five Points of Interconnection (POIs) between Globe and Digitel [are] completed, the two firms will have achieved 100% total interconnection in all areas where they operate nationwide," Globe Telecom said.

Meanwhile, Globe Telecom said 90% of common areas with Bayantel have been interconnected, the most recent of which is in the province of Eastern Samar, which took effect last Sept. 6.

The National Telecommunications Commission requires interconnection of public telecommunications carriers under Republic Act No. 7925, or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995 which broke PLDT's monopoly.

Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan
|

source (http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=17568)

Enjoy mobile Internet with Sun Cellular iLoads
(The Philippine Star) Updated September 11, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (0) View comments

MANILA, Philippines - With Sun Cellular iLoads, subscribers can easily convert their current regular load credit — whether postpaid or prepaid — into their preferred Internet load value.

No need to go to a loading store and buy a separate mobile Internet card. Switch on that mobile connectivity right from one’s own cellphone.

Choose the Sun iLoad value that fits one’s need and budget. There’s the iLoad i25 good for three hours and valid for one day, and the iLoad i50 that lets users enjoy unlimited online connection for one whole day.

Getting instant connection is just a text away. To convert regular load, text i25 or i50 send to 247. A text reply confirmation will be sent immediately — and then mobile surfing is all set, anytime, anywhere.

For more information on iLoads, text iLoads to 2300. Call the Sun Hotline at (02) 395-8000 using a landline or 200 from a Sun mobile phone. Also visit www.suncellular.com.ph for more of Sun Cellular’s innovative yet value-for-money products and services.

PLDT to pay NTC P336-M regulatory fees

Written by Lenie Lectura / Reporter
Monday, 13 September 2010 10:49

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) will pay the government P336 million in regulatory fees by end of September.

Alfredo Carera, PLDT regulatory and telecom industry relations head, said the amount does not include payment of the supervision and regulatory fees (SRFs) of its subsidiary Smart Communications Inc.

“We are scheduled to pay that by the end of this month,” he said.

Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart, according to officials of the two companies, will also pay the fees as required on September 30.

The SRFs are due every end of September. The fees are computed based on the phone firms, broadcast and other entities’ capitalization. They pay 50 centavos for every P100 of paid capital.

Last year the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) collected P1 billion in SRF payments. Of the amount, PLDT paid P343.66 million, or 34.366 percent.

Among the 200 companies from which NTC collected P1.008 billion last year were Globe P169.30 million; Innove Communications Inc., P99.15 million; Pilipino Telephone Corp., P71.21 million; Smart Communications Inc., P68.81 million; Bayan Telecommunications Inc., P56.82 million; Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc., P44.87 million; Express Telecom, P33.33 million; GMA Network Inc., P32.58 million; Eastern Telecom, P13 million; ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., P7.52 million; Radio Communications of the Philippines, P6.97 million; ABC Development Corp., P5 million; Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., P5.12 million; Philcom Inc., P4.98 million; Smart Broadband Inc., P4.75 million; Telecoms Technologies Philippines Inc., P4.41 million; Bell Telecom, P3.36 million; Multi-Media Telephony Inc., P3.19 million; Broadband Everywhere Corp., P2.56 million; and CURE P2 million.

 SRF and Spectrum User’s Fees (SUF) are among the biggest sources of NTC’s revenues.

The NTC is expected to post P3.1 billion in collection this year, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/1215-pldt-to-pay-ntc-p336-m-regulatory-fees

NTC to allot more frequency bandwidths for broadband

Written by Lenie Lectura / Reporter
Tuesday, 21 September 2010 13:12

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is going to reallocate more frequency bandwidths for broadband access use as the number of subscribers is seen to increase exponentially over the years.

“The commission is in the process of considering other frequency bands to be reallocated to broadband access networks,” said NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, while adding that broadband service subscribers will continue to register three-digit growths in the next two to three years. “[Broadband] is where the future lies,” said the NTC chief.

In 2009 the number of broadband subscribers reached 3.6 million, up 102.81 percent from 1.77 million in 2008. At end-June this year, the total broadband subscribers of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. group reached 1.96 million, while Globe Telecom registered 930,000 subscribers.

In support of the development of broadband access networks, the NTC has also reallocated more than 800 megahertz of radio spectrum to broadband access networks.

“The NTC has taken bold steps in helping roll out broadband services throughout the country. I think that we are all one in saying that this is where technological growth has its highest potential at present. With the cooperation of our stakeholders, the NTC is confident that, in due time, every Filipino will ultimately benefit from broadband services,” said Cordoba.

To facilitate the development of mobile broadband networks, the telecom regulator in 2005 also reallocated frequencies for 3G (third-generation) networks and promulgated rules for the assignment of the reallocated frequency bands.

Applying the rules, four public telecommunications entities were qualified and were assigned four 3G frequency bands out of the current five.

In 2010, the commission promulgated rules for the assignment of the remaining 3G frequency band. With the assignment of the fifth 3G frequency band, further competition in the mobile broadband market is expected.

In another development, Cordoba said the NTC has adopted a policy on technology neutrality. This means that authorized telecommunications entities are allowed to choose their own technology. This policy, explained Cordoba, is consistent with a frequency refarming approach where telcos are allowed to implement any technology using their assigned frequencies.

Also, the NTC expects that the number of cellular subscribers will register a double-digit increase by end of this year. In 2009 there were 77.04 million mobile phone subscribers, up 13.14 percent from 68.09 million in 2008.

At end-June this year, the PLDT group posted 45.3 million wireless subscribers while Globe registered 24.6 million subscribers.

For fixed-line service, the NTC sees no further increase in the number of landline subscribers this year. In 2009 fixed-line users reached 3.85 million, up 2.88 percent from 3.74 million in 2008.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/1558-ntc-to-allot-more-frequency-bandwidths-for-broadband

^^ Ang dapat dito, kailangan na ng national broadband plan!

^^agree! at dapat broadband talaga at hindi mala dial-up ang speed!

I agree, our so-called broadband connections remain very slow, especially in the residential areas....

Industry awaits CA decision on per-pulse billing issue

Written by Lenie Lectura / Reporter
Wednesday, 22 September 2010 11:57

THE Court of Appeals (CA) is expected to issue a final resolution on the case involving the controversial per-pulse billing scheme of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), whose implementation had been stopped by the appellate court.

This, as associate justice Hakim Abdulwahid—in a September 13 resolution—gave the NTC and the mobile phone operators a nonextendible 15-day period within which to file their respective memoranda.

“The parties are warned that after the expiration, with or without the parties’ memoranda, the cases shall be deemed submitted for decision,” he said.

Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom Inc., Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprises and Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. were named petitioners in the case. They said that they have complied with the court’s order.

“We adopted the position of Globe,” said Digitel lawyer William Pamintuan in a text message.

Globe’s legal head Froilan Castelo said the memorandum included arguments previously raised in its earlier filings. “The CA is now going to rule on the merits of the cases.”

For Smart, lawyer Roy Ibay said he has yet to confirm if the company had indeed submitted the memorandum. “I think so, but I would have to check first.”

On May 26, the CA issued a writ of preliminary injunction favoring mobile phone firms against the implementation of the agency’s per-pulse billing scheme. The order, issued by the court’s special former 11th division, extends the original 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) up to the finality of the case.

The case at hand involves the implementation of the NTC’s memorandum circular (MC) 05-07-2009. Under this order, calls within the same network will be charged based on time consumed instead of the prevailing per-minute method. A flag-down rate of P3 for the first 12 seconds will be charged to consumers. In the first minute of the call, each succeeding six-second pulse will be charged up to P0.56. Each pulse thereafter will be charged up to P0.75. The rates should not exceed P7.50 per minute, the highest prevailing rate among the phone firms.

Globe and Smart used prefixes as a way to comply with the NTC’s circular instead of a default billing system. They maintained that the NTC has no jurisdiction or power to fix their cellular voice rates as was done in the NTC orders.

In its seven-page resolution, the court said Globe and Smart are entitled to an injunctive relief as the cellular firms have shown that they have the right, and that they are directly threatened by the acts sought to be enjoined.

“To our mind, Globe and Smart, in the instant cases have shown, at least tentatively, the existence of a clear right and an urgent and paramount necessity for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction to prevent serious damage and to prevent the case from becoming moot and academic,” the CA’s May resolution stated.

In seeking the injunctive reliefs, Globe and Smart anchored their pleas on the following grounds: that the NTC order which required them to adopt the six-seconds per pulse unit of billing as their default billing statement has no bases in fact and in law; that the orders violate their rights to due process; and that the orders were issued without or in excess of the NTC’s jurisdiction and in violation of Republic Act 7925.

The NTC, said Globe and Smart, attempted to enforce the MC by means of a show-cause order.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/1604-industry-awaits-ca-decision-on-per-pulse-billing-issue

perfect timing...:okay:



Solon seeks investigation on substandard Internet services

Written by Fernan Marasigan / Reporter
Wednesday, 22 September 2010 12:17

A LEGISLATOR representing the youth sector  is seeking an investigation into “substandard” commercial broadband Internet services in the country amid mounting complaints of subscribers against some telecommunications companies.

In House Resolution 407, Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan asked the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the quality of broadband Internet services delivered by telecommunications companies.

Palatino said that while telecommunications companies charge consumers exorbitant rates for broadband Internet access, the public still has mounting complaints against limited coverage of broadband services and Internet speeds not reflective of the telcos’ marketing claims.

“Most of the promos, packages and features being advertised by broadband providers are deceptive. Thousands of Filipino Internet users complain of substandard services, slow Internet speed, limited coverage, unfair fees and hidden charges,” said Palatino.    

Besides these, Palatino said he wants to investigate reports that “when frustrated Filipino internet users opt out of such substandard services, they are often virtually penalized by telecommunications companies through the imposition of exorbitant pretermination fees.”

Compared with other countries that have imposed standards on such service, the Philippines has none despite having almost 30 million Internet users across the country using broadband, he added.

“The government has powers to regulate Internet services and should definitely look at these issues. Communications and access to information is a public good,” he said.

The militant legislator said the National Telecommunications Commission has failed to implement standards that would compel  telecommunications companies to provide consumers the quality of service that they deserve and pay for.        

In filing the resolution, Palatino said Congress should come up with appropriate laws to set “legal and just broadband service standards” in order to uplift the quality of Internet services in the country.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/nation/1610-solon-seeks-investigation-on-substandard-internet-services

PLDT offers more affordable mobile Internet

By Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:49:00 09/22/2010

Filed Under: business, Internet, Company Information



DOMINANT CARRIER Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) launched a mobile Internet service that makes it more affordable for budget-conscious subscribers to go online using their mobile phones.
In a statement on Wednesday, PLDT said “Koneknet” would be offered by Talk N’ Text.

“Koneknet” will allow Talk N’ Text subscribers to access the Net using their handsets for five hours for only P30.

Other networks charge about P10 for every 30 minutes of mobile Internet use. Users can also opt to be charged based on per kilobyte of information transmitted.

“Koneknet enables Talk ‘N Text subscribers to use their cell phones to go and stay online, update their blogs, chat or send e-mails, browse through their favorite social networking sites at a fixed and low cost,” PLDT said in a statement.

“Our subscribers have benefited from the nationwide network coverage of Talk ‘N Text, its affordable offers, and the convenience of finding prepaid load wherever they are. Koneknet expands this host of benefits, and is a natural progression of our strategy of providing basic yet advanced services to our subscribers, at least cost,” said Perry Bayani, head of marketing at Talk ‘N Text, a unit of PLDT subsidiary Smart Communications.

The Talk N’ Text brand used to be operated by Smart subsidiary Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel). Talk N’ Text’s assets were transferred to Smart earlier this year after Piltel was converted into a holding firm for the phone group’s energy assets.

“Koneknet also helps advance Smart’s ‘Internet for All’ agenda—or to bring the benefits of the Internet more quickly to more people in more places,” Bayani added.

To experience mobile Internet, Talk ‘N Text subscribers must first set the 3G/MMS/GPRS features of their cell phone, and they may do this by sending the text SET to 211.

The 30-peso charge will be deducted from the subscriber’s prepaid credit at registration. A prepaid balance of P1 must be maintained while subscribed to the Koneknet package.

Any amount of time exceeding the registered 5-hour period will be charged the existing flat rate of P10 for every 30 minutes, which is the same rate charged on Smart subscribers.

As of end-June 2010, the subscriber base of Talk ‘N Text reached 18 million, or more than 40 percent of the PLDT group’s current base.

Mobile broadband is seen as the next growth area for local telecommunications firms, with the market for traditional voice call and text messaging services nearing its saturation point.

weird, ngayon ko lang nalaman na wala pa palang 3G sa Thailand:

Thailand 'falls behind' poorer neighbours on 3G

Thailand's latest attempt to auction 3G mobile licences has been blocked after requests from a state telecoms company.

The move appears to be another sign that Thailand is falling behind its poorer neighbours such as Cambodia and Laos when it comes to 3G technology.

It is one of the few countries in south east Asia yet to introduce third generation capabilities, which allow faster upload and download speeds.

At the same time, many Asian countries are introducing 4G technology.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11395752

Sun Cellular claims top spot in postpaid race

Written by Lenie Lectura / Reporter
Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:53

GOKONGWEI-led telecommunications firm Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (DMPI), operator of Sun Cellular, now claims it is the leading postpaid mobile phone service provider after gaining its first million postpaid subscriber count yesterday.

“We achieved this never-before-attained milestone only seven years from startup and with our rivals enjoying a 10-year headstart. We are getting seven out of every 10 new postpaid subscribers,” said Charles Lim, Sun Cellular business unit chief executive officer.

Sun Cellular’s total wireless subscriber is over 16 million. The company did not provide comparative figures. As of end-March this year, its subscriber base rose to over 13 million from close to 11 million at end-2009. In 2008, Sun Cellular recorded 8,154,202 total subscribers.

“Sun Cellular is now No. 1 in the postpaid business, with one million such subscribers and over 15 million prepaid subscribers,” added Lim.

A source from Sun Cellular said that the Gokongwei-controlled phone firm is “very sure” that their postpaid numbers are ahead of Smart and Globe’s.   

Phone giants Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. refused to comment. At end-June this year, Smart subscribers reached a total of 45.3 million. Globe, meanwhile, recorded 909,466 postpaid subscriptions out of its 24.6 million total subscribers.

On the average, the postpaid subscriber count of any cellular firm account for about 2 percent to 3 percent.

The reason for this success, said Lim, is Sun Cellular’s unmatched unlimited service and rates. Both of these are possible because Sun’s network uses the latest technology available in the industry.

“We can meet peak load demand without congestion. This is the advantage of being a latecomer in the business. We got the latest and the best infrastructure, and are offering rates that could reduce a subscriber’s cost anywhere from 40 percent to 80 percent per month,” he said.

Sun Cellular, which started commercial operations in 2003, covers the whole country with almost 7,000 cell sites.

“With every seven out of 10 new postpaid subscribers coming to us, we have found the sweet spot. We expect to gain more market share in the near future since our rivals will not be able to match our unlimited packages,” he said.

Sun Cellular is a unit of JG Summit, the holding company controlled by the Gokongwei family, whose trademark quality and pricing philosophy has catapulted affiliates Cebu Pacific and Universal Robina to leadership. Recently it introduced its Go Hotels which offers a daily rate as low as P588.  

Sun Cellular pioneered the unlimited service in the country. Its rivals followed suit but offered only as promotions. Sun unlimited is a product in itself, which means it is a permanent offering. It also launched low-priced SIM cards in the market to boost consumer acquisition effort and strengthened its line-up of bucket loads through the launch of various unlimited bucket pricing.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/1647-sun-cellular-claims-top-spot-in-postpaid-race

^^ there's one particular reason for this. Sun Cellular is the only telco that offers regular postpaid plans with no lock-in period (depending on whether you take a free phone or not). :) they're also the only one that offers unlimited wireless broadband plan (P 799/month) without lock-in period.

weird, ngayon ko lang nalaman na wala pa palang 3G sa Thailand:

Thailand 'falls behind' poorer neighbours on 3G

Thailand's latest attempt to auction 3G mobile licences has been blocked after requests from a state telecoms company.

The move appears to be another sign that Thailand is falling behind its poorer neighbours such as Cambodia and Laos when it comes to 3G technology.

It is one of the few countries in south east Asia yet to introduce third generation capabilities, which allow faster upload and download speeds.

At the same time, many Asian countries are introducing 4G technology.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11395752


Philippines is already 4G or Wimax

Sun Cellular claims top spot in postpaid race

Written by Lenie Lectura / Reporter
Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:53

GOKONGWEI-led telecommunications firm Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (DMPI), operator of Sun Cellular, now claims it is the leading postpaid mobile phone service provider after gaining its first million postpaid subscriber count yesterday.

“We achieved this never-before-attained milestone only seven years from startup and with our rivals enjoying a 10-year headstart. We are getting seven out of every 10 new postpaid subscribers,” said Charles Lim, Sun Cellular business unit chief executive officer.

Sun Cellular’s total wireless subscriber is over 16 million. The company did not provide comparative figures. As of end-March this year, its subscriber base rose to over 13 million from close to 11 million at end-2009. In 2008, Sun Cellular recorded 8,154,202 total subscribers.

“Sun Cellular is now No. 1 in the postpaid business, with one million such subscribers and over 15 million prepaid subscribers,” added Lim.

A source from Sun Cellular said that the Gokongwei-controlled phone firm is “very sure” that their postpaid numbers are ahead of Smart and Globe’s.   

Phone giants Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. refused to comment. At end-June this year, Smart subscribers reached a total of 45.3 million. Globe, meanwhile, recorded 909,466 postpaid subscriptions out of its 24.6 million total subscribers.

On the average, the postpaid subscriber count of any cellular firm account for about 2 percent to 3 percent.

The reason for this success, said Lim, is Sun Cellular’s unmatched unlimited service and rates. Both of these are possible because Sun’s network uses the latest technology available in the industry.

“We can meet peak load demand without congestion. This is the advantage of being a latecomer in the business. We got the latest and the best infrastructure, and are offering rates that could reduce a subscriber’s cost anywhere from 40 percent to 80 percent per month,” he said.

Sun Cellular, which started commercial operations in 2003, covers the whole country with almost 7,000 cell sites.

“With every seven out of 10 new postpaid subscribers coming to us, we have found the sweet spot. We expect to gain more market share in the near future since our rivals will not be able to match our unlimited packages,” he said.

Sun Cellular is a unit of JG Summit, the holding company controlled by the Gokongwei family, whose trademark quality and pricing philosophy has catapulted affiliates Cebu Pacific and Universal Robina to leadership. Recently it introduced its Go Hotels which offers a daily rate as low as P588.  

Sun Cellular pioneered the unlimited service in the country. Its rivals followed suit but offered only as promotions. Sun unlimited is a product in itself, which means it is a permanent offering. It also launched low-priced SIM cards in the market to boost consumer acquisition effort and strengthened its line-up of bucket loads through the launch of various unlimited bucket pricing.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/1647-sun-cellular-claims-top-spot-in-postpaid-race

if Sun is saying that they got the edge because they were the last in the race. Then watch out for wi-tribe. They were the last in the broadband race, which is why they got 4G.

Globe to start selling iPhone 4 today

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. announced on Friday that it would start selling Apple's iPhone 4 today.

In a statement, the Ayala-led company said the iPhone 4 could be purchased through booths at the Greenbelt and Glorietta in Makati City.

It added that it would also host an exclusive launch event this Sunday at the Makati Shangri-la and New World Hotels in Metro Manila for the first customers who registered online at its Web site.

"Customers will enjoy a superior mobile experience with iPhone 4 on Globe’s high-quality network and wide array of fully customizable plans," said Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu in the statement.

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18353

weird, ngayon ko lang nalaman na wala pa palang 3G sa Thailand:

Thailand 'falls behind' poorer neighbours on 3G

Thailand's latest attempt to auction 3G mobile licences has been blocked after requests from a state telecoms company.

The move appears to be another sign that Thailand is falling behind its poorer neighbours such as Cambodia and Laos when it comes to 3G technology.

It is one of the few countries in south east Asia yet to introduce third generation capabilities, which allow faster upload and download speeds.

At the same time, many Asian countries are introducing 4G technology.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11395752

We are ahead...we have 4G now.

If our WISP - Wireless Internet Service Provider start it's operation and once we switch to 4 or 6 Mbps DIA, we'll provide internet in Bulan and Matnog.

Tatapan ko yan poor Service ng Smart Bro sa Province namin, maganda lang service nila sa commercial.

APC, Eastern Telecoms venture in data center

American Power Conversion Corp. (APC), a business unit of Schneider Electric Philippines, Inc. has partnered with Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. to deliver an integrated energy-friendly data center solutions to clients.

In a statement yesterday, the two companies said the data center in Makati will provide clients an outsourced and integrated data storage, recovery and management service. The infrastructure provider for the data center is IBM Philippines, Inc.

Though launched only on Friday, the Makati data center has begun offering integrated "green" solutions since March.

"Building a data center is challenging, especially with the rigorous industrial and technological standards it is required to comply with. The evolution of green technologies also raised the bar for data centers," read the statement.

The company added: "The clients’ needs had prompted Eastern Telecommunications to build DataHub which is equipped with best-in-class technologies and is the most energy efficient, secure and reliable facility."

Moreover, the Schneider Electric said that the data center also features an extensive number of security and safety capabilities such as precision-controlled air cooling and fire suppression, network monitoring, surveillance cameras and biometrics systems.
It also operates with industry-compliant energy efficient policies and guidelines augmented by new and optimized equipment to help maintain, track and audit the massive power required by the facility.

"The APC solution for Eastern Telecommunications’s DataHub is capable of supporting petabytes of digital information for co-location, business continuity and disaster recovery service offerings. It is capable of running on full capacity at maximum operational efficiency as required by current market demands," the company said.

Philippe Reveilhac, country president of Schneider Electric Philippines, said in the same statement that the data center "is the showcase of the best features of a green data center that can provide the much-needed data services for local corporations."

He added: "Energy efficiency features of the data center can help out clients achieve up to 30% energy savings at the same time, these ensure continued operations and high performance."

The company also launched yesterday an integrated critical power and cooling services through a pumped refrigerant cooling system. The product is called InRow OA and Refrigerant Distribution Unit (RDU).

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18380

San Miguel news?

Globe dares Sun to disclose user count

Written by Lenie Lecture / Reporter
Monday, 27 September 2010 12:03

GLOBE Telecom dared Sun Cellular to disclose its actual subscriber number following the latter’s announcement that it is ahead of everyone else in terms of postpaid subscriber base.

“The only thing I would say because I know you all talk to other competitors is this…It’s funny a competitor claiming numbers of subscribers when they don’t disclose. So, I would love to see all competitors disclose equally,” said Globe’s new adviser for consumer business Peter Bithos.

Bithos joined Globe on May 10. He is expected to provide strategic guidance to the consumer sales and marketing groups and will report directly to Ernest Cu, Globe president and chief executive officer.

Last week, Sun Cellular, the mobile band of phone firm Digital Telecommunications, announced that it is now the leading postpaid mobile phone service provider after hitting its first 1 million subscriber count last month.

“We achieved this never-before-attained milestone only seven years from start up and with our rivals enjoying a 10-year headstart. We are getting seven out of every 10 new postpaid subscribers,” said Charles Lim, Sun Cellular business unit chief executive officer.

A source from Sun Cellular said the Gokongwei-controlled phone firm is “very sure” that its postpaid numbers are ahead of its two rivals.   

At end-June this year, Smart subscribers reached a total of 45.3 million. Globe, meanwhile, recorded 909,466 postpaid subscriptions out of its 24.6 million total subscribers. Both, however, have yet to release their third-quarter numbers.

On the average, the postpaid subscriber count of any cellular firm account for about 2 percent to 3 percent of their entire subscriber base. Prepaid subscriptions still remain the bulk of the total numbers.

Sun Cellular said it does not periodically disclose subscriber numbers it is not a listed firm. It, however, said total wireless subscriber is over 16 million.  The company did not give comparative figures. As of end-March this year, its subscriber base rose to over 13 million from close to 11 million at end-2009. In 2008, Sun Cellular recorded 8,154,202 subscribers.

“Sun Cellular is now number one in the postpaid business, with one million such subscribers and over 15 million prepaid subscribers. With every seven out of 10 new postpaid subscribers coming to us, we have found the sweet spot. We expect to gain more market share in the near future since our rivals will not be able to match our unlimited packages,” added Lim.

Bithos said growing its mobile phone business still remains a priority for Globe.

Although broadband has been identified as the next growth driver, he said, the cellular business can be strengthened as well.

“We have a great broadband business and it’s growing very fast but actually our strategy is to defend and grow our mobile business. We will not be defocusing on mobile. In fact, we will be focusing even more,” said Bithos.

Bithos recognized that competition is tough and is going be even tougher. However, there are opportunities for growth and Globe, he said, will not hesitate to grab any available opportunity that will eventually bring in revenues for the company.

“We have a lot of improvement plans in place to develop a great customer experience on multiple points and we are very committed on defending and growing our mobile business. The Philippines is still a growth market,” he added.

When asked how Globe is coping with the unlimited and bucket price offerings, Bithos said the company is even more challenged to deliver a more improved service to its more than 24 million subscribers.

Globe is seeing a better performance of its mobile business aided by the cellular firm’s various campaigns focused on acquiring new subscribers, stimulating usage and rewarding loyal subscribers.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/1776-globe-dares-sun-to-disclose-user-count

Telcos hold on to data as profits plunge

AMID CUTTHROAT competition and spiraling prices, Philippine mobile network operators are holding on to data. And perhaps for a good reason.

Opportunities in data and broadband were floated and hyped as early as 2005, the year when the government started awarding 3G or third-generation cellular network licenses to telecom companies.

In fact, the country was one of the first in the region to adopt the cellular technology that enabled users to do richer applications on mobile phones such as Internet browsing and music downloads. Thailand, for instance, has not yet leapfrogged to the 3G bandwagon until today.

For a long time, 3G investments were considered white elephants for many of the world’s telecom operators, including the country’s four holders of 3G licenses — Smart Communications, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. which carries the Sun Cellular mobile brand and Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise, a company that was later on bought by Smart.

This has changed dramatically when smartphones and converged devices became available, a market said to be created by the launch of Apple’s iconic iPhone in 2007. Now, almost all of the components needed for a richer mobile phone use are here — the technology, the devices and the applications.

“The growth of 3G networks is allowing mobile operators to open up new revenue streams by increasing subscriber adoption rates of unique and innovative applications and services,” read the executive summary of a white paper titled “Mobile Video: A New Opportunity” from multimedia technology vendor Dialogic.

Dialogic believes that mobile video is poised to be a compelling service among mobile phone users. Traditional carriers can tap the technology “as a way to reverse” the declining average revenue per user (ARPU) as a result of a decline in sales coming from voice and could pave the way for entirely new opportunities for application and insfrastructure developers.

During last week’s staging of the Philippines Telecoms International Summit, an event hosted by research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, officials of the country’s National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) expressed optimism about the country’s mobile prospects.

“This year is the time that telcos are pushing the rollout for broadband,” NTC deputy commissioner Douglas Michael Mallillin told reporters at the sidelines of the event. The regulator is in fact considering increasing the rates imposed on telecom operators as an alternative if the wide rollout for new facilities would not happen in its bid to shore up government revenues.

The impending rate increase, however, could be strongly lobbied against by operators who are confronted with thinning profits due to the heated price war on unlimited and discounted call-and-text offerings.

Frost & Sullivan maintains that the rise of mobile Internet and broadband, seen as a key driver of growth moving forward, is likely to influence an increase in postpaid numbers in the country.

Particularly, the consulting firm’s partner Nitin Bhat said that data on the whole is projected to increase 55% of the ARPU of operators on increasing voice usage, SMS bundling and mobile Internet adoption.

To date, mobile data comprise over 50% of ARPU in the Philippines with non-messaging contribution currently at an estimated level of 7%. The country also has the highest data usage figures in this area with 54% of the total data usage in the region coming from the Philippines.

Mobile operators, however, need to make sure that their back-haul networks are upgraded to cater to the increase in data traffic, said Mr. Bhat. Failing to do so, he cautioned, would “aggravate a dump pipe risk.”

“Future revenue growth is expected to be driven by wireless broadband adoption and the possible entry of more wireless competitors. Moreover, the regulatory reforms underway promise rising competition, leading to further growth opportunities in the Philippines telecom market,” added Frost & Sullivan industry manager for ICT practice Marc Einstein.


http://www.itmatters.com.ph/inside.php?id=373&article_type=news

I Phone 4 officially launched last September 26 available thru Globe....

iPhone 4 Price Philippines
http://www.mukamo.com/iphone-4-price-philippines/

Globe Telecom Philippines reportedly announced that the iPhone 4 will be finally available on September 26, 2010.
http://www.mukamo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/globe-iphone-4-price.jpg

Now on to the price, if you get the iPhone 4 via Globe’s My Superplan it will costs you 29,199 pesos for the 16GB and 34,599 pesos for the 32GB. There’s also the MyFullyLoaded Plans:

For prepaid users, the 16GB will set you back 37,499 pesos while the price of the 32GB is 43,699 pesos.

Mobile business still a priority—Globe

by Jeremiah F. de Guzman

Globe Telecom Inc. said it will continue to invest in the mobile business despite a slowdown in the growth of subscribers and revenues.

Peter Bithos, Globe’s senior adviser for consumer business, told reporters over the weekend that the company was facing “difficult financial and customer service challenge.”

He said with the rising popularity of unlimited and bucket offerings which eat into the company’s revenues, Globe is forced to compete with similar packages while enhancing the network system to address possible congestion.

The number of new subscribers in both postpaid and prepaid segments has slowed down due to cut-throat pricing in the telecommunications industry. Globe is increasing its investments in the broadband segment, now considered the new growth area in the telecommunications business.

“We have a great broadband business and it is growing very fast. But we will not be de-focusing on mobile. In fact, we will be focusing even more on our mobile business,” Bithos said.

“We have a lot of improvement plans in place to develop a great customer experience on multiple points and we are very committed on defending and growing our mobile business,” he added.

Globe earlier said it aimed to accelerate postpaid take-up with the launch of iPhone 4 in the Philippines over the weekend.

iPhone 4 buyers swamped the two hotels in Makati City, where Globe set up dedicated stations to deliver pre-ordered iPhone units to customers.


http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideBusiness.htm?f=2010/september/28/business3.isx&d=2010/september/28

Competition heats up on dual-SIM phones

Written by Armin A. Amio / Companies and Technology Editor
Tuesday, 28 September 2010 12:36

FINALLY, a non-China based mobile phone manufacturer has recognized the huge market potential of dual-SIM (subscriber identification module) mobile phones in the country.

Nokia Philippines country manager, Benoit Nalin, said the Finnish mobile phone powerhouse plans to unveil in the Philippines dual-SIM devices next year.

Using two SIM cards in one phone is increasingly becoming an option for most Filipinos. Using both a personal and a business number with one single handset, taking advantage of ‘unli’ plans offered by telco providers or using regularly local prepaid cards during business trips are a few reasons why Pinoys turn to dual-SIM mobiles. This, plus the convenience that one no longer needs to carry two mobiles at all times.

Major mobile phones manufacturers seem initially disinterested to latch on to this phenomenon. However, small-scale manufacturers—particularly the ones based in China—have taken the plunge in search of their own little corner on the market. Thus, the proliferation of dual-SIM China-made phones in the market, not to mention Filipino-branded ones like MyPhone, Cherry Mobile and the like.

Nalin said Nokia plans to roll out these dual-SIM devices starting 2011, although he refused to provide additional details.

Dual-SIM phones are nothing new to Nokia, actually. The company already launched such phone in India in August—the C1-00 and the C2-00. Both the handsets have support for multiple phone book, have long battery life and a large screen. While the C2 supports dual-SIM dual standby, the C1 allows only one active SIM at a time.

Nokia is hell-bent on securing its leadership in the very competitive mobile phone market, particularly that of smartphones.

“There are about 260,000 Nokia smartphones being bought everyday. This is the highest smartphone sales by any company, period,” said Niklas Savander, executive vice president for markets at Nokia. At 37.4 percent, Nokia has the biggest share of the smartphone market, according to a study from Gartner.

Not resting on its laurels, Savander said Nokia is shifting “into high gear to fight back the smartphone leadership.” The company recently launched four new smartphone, the N8, the E7, the C7 and the C6.

Savander also announced Nokia’s push to “bring Internet to the next billion” through the company’s smartphones. “The Internet is changing; it is being used differently than how it was originally conceived. That’s the space we intend to own.”

It’s all about here and now, Savander pointed out, adding that “Nokia is [finally] back.”


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/1828-competition-heats-up-on-dual-sim-phones

http://business-video.tmcnet.com/news/2010/10/01/5041016.htm
[October 01, 2010]

Mobile phone penetration in Philippines to reach 98 pct by 2015: report

MANILA, Oct 01, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- More than 90 million population of the Philippines will almost each has his or her own mobile phone within five years, a study released by United Kingdom-based analyst Ovum said on Friday.

Already the texting capital of the world, Ovum said the country's mobile phone penetration rate will likely reach 98 percent by 2015, from just 78 percent by the end of last year.

This highlights the need for telecommunication firms to focus on new revenue streams such as broadband Internet to drive profit growth, Ovum said, especially following a recent study which showed that the Philippines also has the highest number of viewers of videos streamed over the Internet.


But companies need to make sure that services are affordable and reliable to the masses to make the mobile broadband business a success, it added.

Changing dynamics in mobile market elicit changes in strategies of PLDT, Globe

Overall revenue growth in the Philippines’ mobile market is slowing down, leading to margin challenges for most operators, according to the report of a market research firm.

Ovum, a unit of Datamonitor Group, an independent, business information and market analysis company said in a statement yesterday that the changing dynamics of the Philippine mobile market have resulted in changes in the strategies of the two largest players, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom, Inc.

"Both PLDT and Globe Telecom’s revenues shrank 1% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year as opposed to 3% and 1% growth respectively in the same period last year while their Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) margins declined 1% and 11%, respectively," the firm said.

Ovum added that it anticipates the "slowing down" to be the first sign of impending market maturity caused by an ever increasing mobile penetration rate in the country.

"Ovum forecasts that the mobile penetration rate will increase from 78% at the end of 2009 to 98% by 2015, reaching a total mobile subscriber base of 107 million users," it said.

Anubhuti Belgaonkar, Ovum’s lead analyst said that his company’s research in other market suggests that focusing on driving data services is the way to offset revenue decline.

"PLDT and Globe Telecom have now shifted focus to mobile broadband to drive revenue growth, a strategy Ovum closely agrees with," he said.

"Given the low broadband penetration and the limited coverage of fixed broadband networks, mobile broadband appears to have immense growth potential in the Philippines," he added.

Mr. Belgaonkar said that to capitalize on this opportunity, PLDT and Globe Telecom are focusing on reducing ownership and usage costs to encourage uptake of mobile broadband.

"As a result, PLDT’s mobile broadband subscriber base has jumped 90% year-on-year to reach 1.4 million in June 2010, while Globe Telecom’s subscribers have increased almost two-fold to reach 596,000," he said.

"Going forward, affordability along with adequate network coverage and capacity will be crucial for driving the uptake of broadband services in the Philippines," he added.

However, Mr. Belgaonkar said that operators would have to be "mindful" of the associated costs to ensure that their bottom lines are not squeezed.

Globe Telecom’s Corporate Communications Head Yolanda C. Crisanto told BusinessWorld in a phone interview yesterday that the market value for voice and text services is "already getting saturated."

"It’s been our thrust to deliver diversified services to our consumers. Our customers would expect more products as Globe Telecom has been always customer-centric," she said.

BusinessWorld was unable to contact any officials from PLDT. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan


http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18780

Mobile phone penetration in RP to reach 98 percent by 2015: report

(philstar.com) Updated October 01, 2010 11:31 PM Comments (0) View comments

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - More than 90 million population of the Philippines will almost each has his or her own mobile phone within five years, a study released by United Kingdom-based analyst Ovum said today.

Already the texting capital of the world, Ovum said the country's mobile phone penetration rate will likely reach 98 percent by 2015, from just 78 percent by the end of last year.

This highlights the need for telecommunication firms to focus on new revenue streams such as broadband Internet to drive profit growth, Ovum said, especially following a recent study which showed that the Philippines also has the highest number of viewers of videos streamed over the Internet.

But companies need to make sure that services are affordable and reliable to the masses to make the mobile broadband business a success, it added.

Mobile phone penetration in RP to reach 98 percent by 2015: report

(philstar.com) Updated October 01, 2010 11:31 PM Comments (0) View comments

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - More than 90 million population of the Philippines will almost each has his or her own mobile phone within five years, a study released by United Kingdom-based analyst Ovum said today.

Already the texting capital of the world, Ovum said the country's mobile phone penetration rate will likely reach 98 percent by 2015, from just 78 percent by the end of last year.

This highlights the need for telecommunication firms to focus on new revenue streams such as broadband Internet to drive profit growth, Ovum said, especially following a recent study which showed that the Philippines also has the highest number of viewers of videos streamed over the Internet.

But companies need to make sure that services are affordable and reliable to the masses to make the mobile broadband business a success, it added.

So even the poorest of the poor will have their own cellphones? Isn't that sad, so many people spend so much on cellphone load and yet go hungry or eat food that is not of much nutritional value?

Re the last paragraph, competition will make this happen. Right now I am seeing the niche alignment with the 3 major telcos - Globe for the high-end and corporate market, Smart primarily for the mass market, and Sun Cellular for the secondary market, while eating away at both Globe and Smart's core markets.

But 90% of the population seems a far fetched number...unless you are talking of children below 5 years old having their own cellphones.:nuts:

^ actually those poorest who live on less than a dollar a day is very possible to be much lower than expected. .

there are beggars in the Philippines who earn 500 pesos a day.

Besides one can buy a brand new mobile phone for less than a thousand pesos. That's just about 2-3 days of work for a minimum wage earner.

A used celfon one can buy for less than 500 pesos. Or a day's wage. By 2015, the Philippines would be much different at current growth rate.

Globe inks deal for money transfer service

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. said it is now shifting strategy toward uplifting the value of the brand through content as most of the consumers have a “limited wallet.”

Ernest L. Cu, Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer, told reporters “empowering the rural population” was not just contributing to social development but also an integral business strategy.

The firm on Monday signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Program (UN-WFP), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and a non-government organization Community Family Services International (CFSI) for Globe Telecom’s GCASH to provide fast, secure, and low-cost delivery of money transfers.

“If you are just a delivery type of data, you will be charged by the commodity. As a telecommunications firm, you want to figure out how to participate in uplifting your value. Most of the consumers in the market have a limited wallet,” Mr. Cu said.

He added: “Social development is a two-way street and as part of its drive to find innovative solutions to hunger worldwide the UN-WFP has partnered with Globe to deliver the financial assistance to Ondoy and Pepeng typhoon-affected communities in Metro Manila and in some areas in Northern Luzon.”

Rizza M. Eala, president of GCASH operator G-Xchange, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom, told reporters 2,000 households will receive less than P2,000 for the pilot program.

“The pilot programme is now being rolled out already. This is a one-time financial assistance for the families. We target to reach one million families before the year ends, 2.3 million by next year and 4.4 million in five years,” she said.


http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18865

So even the poorest of the poor will have their own cellphones? Isn't that sad, so many people spend so much on cellphone load and yet go hungry or eat food that is not of much nutritional value?

Re the last paragraph, competition will make this happen. Right now I am seeing the niche alignment with the 3 major telcos - Globe for the high-end and corporate market, Smart primarily for the mass market, and Sun Cellular for the secondary market, while eating away at both Globe and Smart's core markets.

But 90% of the population seems a far fetched number...unless you are talking of children below 5 years old having their own cellphones.:nuts:

^ actually those poorest who live on less than a dollar a day is very possible to be much lower than expected. .

there are beggars in the Philippines who earn 500 pesos a day.

Besides one can buy a brand new mobile phone for less than a thousand pesos. That's just about 2-3 days of work for a minimum wage earner.

A used celfon one can buy for less than 500 pesos. Or a day's wage. By 2015, the Philippines would be much different at current growth rate.

Even the poor Pinoys have cellphone nowadays. The higher penetration rate is also attributable to multiple subscriptions.

GLOBE has 4G WIMAX :cheers:

Globe WiMax 4G Prepaid

Now GLOBE WIMAX do have a prepaid version, downloading is not a problem anymore, with at least 3Mbps speed, Before they are offering this in postpaid account only, now they have prepaid version.

You can have an unlimited internet for only 60 pesos only, cost 10 pesos more for Globe tattoo but several times faster.

The Kit cost P2,900 for the Globe Prepaid
http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr176/joreeljhasot/technology/Globe_wimax_4G_Prepaid.png
http://emag.joreeldiaz.com/globe-wimax-4g-prepaid/

ilang araw na walang internet ang globe wimax postpaid ko.

ito yon itatapat ko sa mga sub-standard service ng Smart Bro, Wimax at Globe Wimax.

Malapit na kami mag testing. abangan. pero sa bon-ot big at Culasi,Calintaan,Calayuan magkaka-internet sa november 2010. i-expand namin to pa unti unti.

libre lang mangarap guys kaya pag-bigyan nyo na ako pero ginawa namin tong project ngayon.



http://img806.imageshack.us/img806/2562/dscf4296.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4126/dscf4362.jpg
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5293/dscf4297o.jpg

^^Ayus yan Nanflexal, Pwede nyo ba i-extend ang network nyo sa Northern Samar(Allen, Victoria, San Antonio at Biri)? Magkano nman pala? :D

^^Ayus yan Nanflexal, Pwede nyo ba i-extend ang network nyo sa Northern Samar(Allen, Victoria, San Antonio at Biri)? Magkano nman pala? :D

pwedi i-extend yan. pero ito yon priority namin, San Vicente, Capul, San Antonio at pwedi na isama yon Victoria pagkatapos ng San antonio.

about naman sa price, gagawin namin affordable at may prepaid at postpaid din kami na plan.

simply lang ang gusto ko, good service at good support para everybody happy.

Globe now has over 600 roaming partners
Monday, 11 October 2010 13:58 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


Globe Telecom Inc., on Monday said its international roaming network is fast expanding with more than 600 roaming partners worldwide.

With its expanding coverage, Globe, the telecom unit of Ayala Corp., claims it has most roaming partners across all continents that enable customers to conveniently use their Globe mobile account outside the Philippines.

To date, it offers roaming service to more than 200 destinations around the world, even in International Air Space and International Waters. Thus, Globe said its customers can make calls and send text messages while onboard a plane or ship.

“The continuous build up of our roaming network is part of our aim to deliver unparalleled service to customers, as we remain responsive to their mobility needs,” said Jesus C. Romero, Globe Business head of enterprise segments, in a statement.

To date, Romero said that Globe Business provides strong network signal abroad that enabled its subscribers both on postpaid and prepaid mobile even in destinations like Comoros Islands , Uzbekistan and Equatorial Guinea.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/2373-globe-now-has-over-600-roaming-partners

Telcos will continue growth next year but with lesser yields
Monday, 11 October 2010 14:52 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


THE lucrative telecommunications industry will continue to experience a rise in traffic volume in 2011, although yields will decline, as network operators offer bucket pricing and unlimited pricing schemes, the president of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said last week.

“It will still be good. Volume will rise, but the yields will go down. So revenue-wise, it will still be a single-digit growth for the cellular companies,” said Napoleon Nazareno.

The phone giant handled over a billion text messages and more than 100 million minutes of calls every day for the past six months. But text revenues declined by 14 percent, despite increasing volumes.

For PLDT, text volumes and voice minutes from January to June this year were higher by 27 percent and 279 percent year-on-year. However, yields have declined to P0.12 per text and P1.25 per minute of voice on higher traffic volumes.

The average price per text is now down to P0.12 and the lowest price for bucket pricing is down to P0.04 per text. Close to 90 percent to 95 percent of the text messages processed by PLDT’s cellular network, which registered 45.3 million wireless subscribers in the first six months of the year, today are enrolled in various unlimited offers.

“We’ve had some election-related churn in subscriber numbers but that is a one-time churn rate,” said the PLDT president.

PLDT is set to release its third-quarter figures on November 4. The company’s chairman, Manuel Pangilinan, had said third-quarter net profit was better than its profit a year earlier.

‘‘It’s better than last year,’’ Pangilinan said.

The PLDT group’s second-quarter profit was P10.26 billion, up 1 percent from a year earlier. Its first-half net income, meanwhile, stood at P21.7 billion, from P19.7 billion in the same period last year.

This year the PLDT group may see service revenues growing by 2 percent, from P145.6 billion in 2009. Its core net income for 2010 is expected to be slightly higher than the P41 billion in 2009 resulting from the increase in revenues, the contribution from its investment in Meralco and lower income-tax provision.

The group has set a profit guidance in excess of P41 billion this year. Nazareno said PLDT is “on track to achieving that number.”

PLDT, which is owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT Communications and NTT DoCoMo, sees growth in the broadband space amid a maturing core market.

“Broadband remains to be in robust growth. It will grow by 20 percent to 25 percent more,” added Nazareno.

Growth in broadband revenues account for 11 percent of the PLDT group’s total revenues as of end-June, compared with 9 percent for the same period last year.

The volume of broadband will propel growth and hopefully offset the declining text-messaging revenues, Nazareno said.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/2386-telcos-will-continue-growth-next-year-but-with-lesser-yields

pwedi i-extend yan. pero ito yon priority namin, San Vicente, Capul, San Antonio at pwedi na isama yon Victoria pagkatapos ng San antonio.

about naman sa price, gagawin namin affordable at may prepaid at postpaid din kami na plan.

simply lang ang gusto ko, good service at good support para everybody happy.

^^Wow! Business mo pala yan? yayaman ka dyan! hehe.:lol:

makabigay lang ng magandang service sa customer ok na kami. hirap kasi yon mga sub-standard service na yan. magaling lang sila sa advertising wala naman sa service.

at least magigising sila pag na cover nayan plan ko ng internet namin.

Globe now has over 600 roaming partners
Monday, 11 October 2010 13:58 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


Globe Telecom Inc., on Monday said its international roaming network is fast expanding with more than 600 roaming partners worldwide.

With its expanding coverage, Globe, the telecom unit of Ayala Corp., claims it has most roaming partners across all continents that enable customers to conveniently use their Globe mobile account outside the Philippines.

To date, it offers roaming service to more than 200 destinations around the world, even in International Air Space and International Waters. Thus, Globe said its customers can make calls and send text messages while onboard a plane or ship.

“The continuous build up of our roaming network is part of our aim to deliver unparalleled service to customers, as we remain responsive to their mobility needs,” said Jesus C. Romero, Globe Business head of enterprise segments, in a statement.

To date, Romero said that Globe Business provides strong network signal abroad that enabled its subscribers both on postpaid and prepaid mobile even in destinations like Comoros Islands , Uzbekistan and Equatorial Guinea.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/2373-globe-now-has-over-600-roaming-partners

I don't really care if they have 2-3 roaming partners in every country as long as the roaming rates are reasonable (or better yet, cheap!). For instance, if you are on a BlackBerry plan, every single email or message that comes in gets charged to the tune of up to 25 pesos each! So if you get say an average of 100 emails/messages a day, that's already P2,500! What more if you have an extended trip?!

The best way to maximize roaming is to get a prepaid SIM card of the country you are visiting, use your Globe/Smart/Sun roaming facility to update your key contacts or Twitter, or send a message to a group informing them of your mobile number. Then you can ask them to text or call IDD from the Philippines so you won't get charged for incoming calls (exception of course is the USA where calls are charged whether incoming or outgoing). It may look expensive at first, but this option will save you from headaches of temporarily disconnected service (once you've gone over your limit) and huge bills to pay once you're back in the country.

Oh, there is a better option....Skype.:lol:

I don't really care if they have 2-3 roaming partners in every country as long as the roaming rates are reasonable (or better yet, cheap!). For instance, if you are on a BlackBerry plan, every single email or message that comes in gets charged to the tune of up to 25 pesos each! So if you get say an average of 100 emails/messages a day, that's already P2,500! What more if you have an extended trip?!

The best way to maximize roaming is to get a prepaid SIM card of the country you are visiting, use your Globe/Smart/Sun roaming facility to update your key contacts or Twitter, or send a message to a group informing them of your mobile number. Then you can ask them to text or call IDD from the Philippines so you won't get charged for incoming calls (exception of course is the USA where calls are charged whether incoming or outgoing). It may look expensive at first, but this option will save you from headaches of temporarily disconnected service (once you've gone over your limit) and huge bills to pay once you're back in the country.

Oh, there is a better option....Skype.:lol:

^^ I agree with you on this one. Its irrelevant anymore to bring your mobile phone when you are abroad. Just bring in when you travel abroad a smartphone or netbook with wifi capability and use it in places where there is a wifi coverage. Usual place may wifi coverage are hotel, malls & coffee shop.

If ever no coverage just buy a prepaid simcard, mas cheaper ito than using your mobile phone to place a call.

I don't really care if they have 2-3 roaming partners in every country as long as the roaming rates are reasonable (or better yet, cheap!). For instance, if you are on a BlackBerry plan, every single email or message that comes in gets charged to the tune of up to 25 pesos each! So if you get say an average of 100 emails/messages a day, that's already P2,500! What more if you have an extended trip?!

The best way to maximize roaming is to get a prepaid SIM card of the country you are visiting, use your Globe/Smart/Sun roaming facility to update your key contacts or Twitter, or send a message to a group informing them of your mobile number. Then you can ask them to text or call IDD from the Philippines so you won't get charged for incoming calls (exception of course is the USA where calls are charged whether incoming or outgoing). It may look expensive at first, but this option will save you from headaches of temporarily disconnected service (once you've gone over your limit) and huge bills to pay once you're back in the country.

Oh, there is a better option....Skype.:lol:


I also agree, that's why the new Ipod Touch would be perfect because it has wifi and you can use skype and it's a lot cheaper than the Iphone.....:okay:

Qatari telco wants to hike stake in Liberty

SAN MIGUEL Corp.'s Qatari partner in listed Liberty Telecoms Holdings, Inc. wants to hike its stake up to the 40% constitutional limit, citing the huge Philippine telco market.

Qatar Telecom QSC (Qtel) said it already controlled 32% of Liberty Telecoms but wanted to hike its investment to the maximum allowed by law for public utilities.

"The Philippines is a growing market," Qtel Chairman Abdullah bin Saud Al-Thani said in a chance interview at the sidelines of the Philippine Business Conference at Manila Hotel. -- J. A. D. Hermosa


http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=19398

We maybe an impoverished country, but at least, we also have something of our own that we can share to the world.

:cheers:

Foreign central bank execs study Smart Money system (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=620428&publicationSubCategoryId=108)
By Ehda M. Dagooc (The Freeman) Updated October 13, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (0)


CEBU, Philippines - Central Bank officials of Ecuador and Guatemala were in the Philippines recently to discover the world’s first cash payment card linked to a mobile phone system, a unique product offered by Smart Communications, Inc.

Through the learning exchange grant program from the Alliance For Financial Inclusion (AFI), the two countries Central Bank system will learn from the Philippines’ strategy on the cash payment on mobile phone, widely known here as “Smart Money”.

The officials are also exploring opportunities to work with Smart in other mobile commerce initiatives using the award-winning Smart Money platform.

“We welcome this opportunity to showcase how our pioneering Smart Money platform is being used by Filipinos in various parts of the Philippines,” said Jerwin Santos of Smart Hub, Inc., a subsidiary of Smart which is tasked with providing consulting services to emerging markets around the world.

“We are optimistic that this exposure to the Smart Money ecosystem will pave the way for future opportunities for collaboration with Ecuador and Guatemala,” Santos added.

According to Santiago Vasquez, project manager for mobile payment system, Central Bank of Ecuador, the Philippine emersion trip has confirmed the country’s boasts of a sophisticated mobile commerce ecosystem.

“Having personally experienced the many benefits of Smart Money, we are looking forward to replicate this solution in our respective countries which mirror the economic activities and population profile of the Philippines. We are excited for our people to enjoy the same fast, secure and robust mobile money experience we gained from Smart Money,” Vasquez added.

Smart, which has been actively promoting mobile commerce in the Philippines since 2000, accompanied the central bank officials on an exposure tour of Tribolium Enterprises, the first Smart Money Center in Cabanatuan City and branches of the First Consolidated Cooperative along Tañon Seaboards (FCCT) in various remote areas of Cebu. FCCT is Smart's microfinance institution (MFI) partner and beneficiary of its Island Activations Program—a GSMA Foundation-backed initiative designed in partnership with Seed Finance, to identify and deliver mobile money solutions to remote, underserved islands or municipalities where large concentrations of the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) members are found, and where access to formal financial institutions are limited.

To date, Smart has enabled close to 50 remote communities to perform mobile financial services using Smart Money.

SMART Money is a reloadable payment card that may either be accessed through a Smart mobile phone or a MasterCard powered card, similar to a debit/cash card.

It also enables Smart subscribers to manage their money from their mobile phones wherever they are, whenever they want.

Globe says it’s still No. 1 in postpaid segment

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. said yesterday it continues to lead the mobile postpaid segment, pointing to a higher revenue base and ownership of subscriber identification module or SIM cards.

In a statement, Globe Telecom said it logged in service revenues of P6.8 billion from the segment in the first half, higher than Smart Communications, Inc.’s P3.4 billion, citing disclosures.

Sun Cellular’s operator, the Gokongwei-led Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (Digitel), which earlier claimed to have snatched the lead from Globe Telecom in postpaid subscribers, did not disclose any comparable figure, Globe Telecom said.

Globe Telecom also said results of a nationwide consumer tracking study conducted by The Nielsen Company Philippines, Inc. showed it maintained a significant lead over competitors in the same segment, “in terms of SIM ownership.”

Data from April to August showed Globe Telecom had 48% of the total base of all consumer postpaid owners nationwide, the firm said. Sun Cellular had 28% while Smart Communications had 23%, Globe Telecom said.

Globe Telecom chief Ernest L. Cu said this was due to a strategy of focusing on “quality” subscribers, recalibrating acquisition efforts, and “giving higher value for loyalty.”

“In the past two months, we have noted an increase in revenues and usage,” he said.

Sought for comment, William S. Pamintuan, Digitel head for legal services and human resources, maintained that Sun Cellular now has more than one million postpaid subscribers nationwide.

“That’s our figure,” he told BusinessWorld.

Smart Communications, the mobile unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), declined to comment.

In first-half disclosures, Globe Telecom said it had 909,000 postpaid subscribers in the first six months of the year. Smart Communications had 439,844.

Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan
|

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=19537

Smart offers 'universal load'

SMART COMMUNICATIONS, Inc. said Friday its prepaid subscribers may now avail themselves of a "sachet" load that does not expire and may be used for services beyond "airtime" for a mobile phone.

In a statement, the company said the Universal Load (ULOAD) may be used for other services such as broadband connection and digital TV subscription.

Smart Communications, the wireless unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co., said subscribers can use only the load they need, store the rest in their "wallets," and convert the amount when they need it.

Danilo Mojica, head of Smart Communication's Wireless Consumer Division, said ULOAD "also comes handy when [users] want to help friends and family who have urgent need for load."

Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minor stake in BusinessWorld.


http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=19571

Globe says it’s still No. 1 in postpaid segment

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. said yesterday it continues to lead the mobile postpaid segment, pointing to a higher revenue base and ownership of subscriber identification module or SIM cards.

In a statement, Globe Telecom said it logged in service revenues of P6.8 billion from the segment in the first half, higher than Smart Communications, Inc.’s P3.4 billion, citing disclosures.

Sun Cellular’s operator, the Gokongwei-led Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (Digitel), which earlier claimed to have snatched the lead from Globe Telecom in postpaid subscribers, did not disclose any comparable figure, Globe Telecom said.

Globe Telecom also said results of a nationwide consumer tracking study conducted by The Nielsen Company Philippines, Inc. showed it maintained a significant lead over competitors in the same segment, “in terms of SIM ownership.”

Data from April to August showed Globe Telecom had 48% of the total base of all consumer postpaid owners nationwide, the firm said. Sun Cellular had 28% while Smart Communications had 23%, Globe Telecom said.

Globe Telecom chief Ernest L. Cu said this was due to a strategy of focusing on “quality” subscribers, recalibrating acquisition efforts, and “giving higher value for loyalty.”

“In the past two months, we have noted an increase in revenues and usage,” he said.

Sought for comment, William S. Pamintuan, Digitel head for legal services and human resources, maintained that Sun Cellular now has more than one million postpaid subscribers nationwide.

“That’s our figure,” he told BusinessWorld.

Smart Communications, the mobile unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), declined to comment.

In first-half disclosures, Globe Telecom said it had 909,000 postpaid subscribers in the first six months of the year. Smart Communications had 439,844.

Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan
|

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=19537

Giving "value for loyalty"? I have been a Globe subscriber since 1995 and they can't even offer me a better handset for my plan with their loyalty/retention program compared to that which they offer to new subscribers.

I suspect Globe is doing this because they want to make it appear that loyalty equals more postpaid subscribers when in fact they don't really look at the churn figures. I for one, have been regularly canceling my postpaid plan after 2-4 years and replacing it with practical a similar plan but with better handsets included in the offer. I have like 5 Globe accounts in my name. So what postpaid figures are they talking about?

As for Sun, they probably are counting the number of handsets that come with their 3 in 1 plan. Which is why they claim to have over a million postpaid subscribers.

One thing is consistent though...customer service for postpaid subscribers is not much different from that of pre-paid subscribers. I think the better agents who handle Globe's calls are dedicated only to their Platinum subscribers (and why would I spend P5000 monthly for a single plan when I can get more value with a basic Globe My Fully Loaded Plan at P299, then add P499 for Globe Superduo, then pay less than 10 centavos per minute if I get a international calling card, or even less if I pay for a broadband plan and just use Skype to call internationally?). I can do all a Platinum subscriber can for less than P2500 using the combination above!:bash:

In our family, we're five.


my sister - has one sun postpaid account in 350. one handset.
me,mom,brother - in group plan 999. 3 handsets.
my dad - prepaid sun. he asks load from us siblings.


hehehe


:rofl:

May tanong ako.
Let's say may Ipad ako (WIFI+3G model) and I want to use it as a GPS device pag nasa ibang bansa ako. First and foremost, yung first connection ako would be thru a wifi network. It would costs from a few bucks per day or free (depende sa lugar and stuff). Pero paano pag wala wifi signal? So I guess I have to use the mobile/cellular feature then.

Tanong ko is: Will the rates be charged by my local telecom provider? Or will I be subject to the rates of its roaming partner(s)? Am I required to buy a SIM card (na may 3G or 3.5 G HSPA) para makagamit ako ng GPS sa Ipad ko (pag walang wifi signal)???

Thanks :)

May tanong ako.
Let's say may Ipad ako (WIFI+3G model) and I want to use it as a GPS device pag nasa ibang bansa ako. First and foremost, yung first connection ako would be thru a wifi network. It would costs from a few bucks per day or free (depende sa lugar and stuff). Pero paano pag wala wifi signal? So I guess I have to use the mobile/cellular feature then.

Tanong ko is: Will the rates be charged by my local telecom provider? Or will I be subject to the rates of its roaming partner(s)? Am I required to buy a SIM card (na may 3G or 3.5 G HSPA) para makagamit ako ng GPS sa Ipad ko (pag walang wifi signal)???

Thanks :)

Usually they'll charge you international roaming rates of the partner. Am not sure if they lock the iPad to their own network (i.e. Globe), hence you can't use it as an "unlocked" unit. If you purchased your iPad abroad and not from a telco provider, then most likely you can just find the appropriate prepaid micro-SIM.

But Apple knew that that would be impractical and costly when traveling abroad...so they offered a WiFi only version of the iPad. Personally, I wouldn't use an iPad on the fly like I'd use an iPhone or any phone with a decent browser...the iPad is best used while sitting down and placing it on your lap or a tabletop, not held out by your hand in the middle of a busy street (except maybe for certain professions that might use it that way)...it attracts potential snatchers.

Also, I'm not sure if the roaming rates will be charged as time-based or data-based. If it's data based charging, for sure you will incur a large bill when you get home (doing so on the iPhone or BlackBerry already gets fantastic roaming rates, what more a data-intensive device like the iPad).

Look at it this way, if you really need that 3G access to check your email on your iPad, then consider how many times you need to do such and compare the savings you'll get by just going to a WiFi hotspot. I bet you after a few trips of using 3G roaming you'd save enough to buy a new laptop.

PLDT expects single-digit growth in Q3
Tuesday, 19 October 2010 10:55 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said on Tuesday it will report a single-digit growth in its bottom line for the third quarter period mainly due to softer revenues.

“Revenues are slightly down compared with last year, which is the same performance of previous two quarters but the bottomline is better as expected. The third-quarter numbers are better than last year,” said PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan.

Revenues from cellular business are still hit by the industry-wide offering of bucket pricing and unlimited pricing schemes but the phone giant’s data business, which includes broadband, is gaining momentum.

“There‘s an element of cost control. Revenues are also higher typically on the data side, especially broadband,” said Pangilinan when asked how PLDT still managed to post profits despite declining revenues from July to September this year.

Growth in broadband revenues account for 11 percent of the PLDT group’s total revenues as of end-June this year compared to 9 percent in the same period last year. The volume of broadband will propel growth moving forward and, hopefully, offset softening revenues.

In the third quarter of 2009, PLDT posted P10.3 billion in net income. The phone giant is set to report its third-quarter numbers next month.

PLDT has set a profit guidance in excess of P41 billion this year and Pangilinan said “we are sticking to our year-end target which is higher than P41 bilion.”

Also, PLDT sees service revenues growing by 2 percent from P145.6 billion in 2009. Its core net income for 2010 is expected to be slightly higher than the P41 billion in 2009 resulting from the increase in revenues, the contribution from its investment in Meralco, and lower income tax provision.

PLDT’s second quarter profit this year stood at P10.26 billion, up 1 percent from a year earlier.  Its first-half net income, meanwhile, stood at P21.7 billion from P19.7 billion in the same period last year.

Pangilinan also said PLDT’s cellular network, which registered 45.3 million wireless subscribers in the first six months of the year, underwent a “cleanup” during the third quarter.

“I’ve been told there was a clean up,” replied Pangilinan when asked if the company added 1 million subscribers in its cellular network. PLDT experienced some election-related churn in subscriber numbers but that is a one-time churn rate, PLDT president Napoleon Nazareno earlier said.

PLDT’s budget for consolidated capex next year remains unchanged at P28 billion. “It’s still going to be the same as this year,” said Pangilinan, although he said the telco will continue to invest in new technologies as it exits from the so-called legacy business.

Capex for this year is at P28.6 billion. Of this amount, approximately P16.4 billion is budgeted to be spent by Smart Communications Inc., about P10.8 billion is for PLDT and the balance are spread among its subsidiaries.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/2678-pldt-expects-single-digit-growth-in-q3

200k SMSes sent every second :lol:

Strait Times
October 19, 2010

GENEVA - THE popularity of text messaging has leapt three-fold in the past three years, with almost 200,000 text messages sent every second, the UN telecommunications agency said on Tuesday.

A total of 1.8 trillion SMSes were sent in 2007, but in 2010, the number sent has jumped to 6.1 trillion, said the International Telecommunication Union.

This translates to revenues of US$14,000 dollars (S$18,250) every second and 812,000 dollars every minute, said the agency.

Users in the Philippines and the United States were among the most prolific, accounting for 35 per cent of all text messages sent in 2009. -- AFP

200k SMSes sent every second :lol:

Strait Times
October 19, 2010

GENEVA - THE popularity of text messaging has leapt three-fold in the past three years, with almost 200,000 text messages sent every second, the UN telecommunications agency said on Tuesday.

A total of 1.8 trillion SMSes were sent in 2007, but in 2010, the number sent has jumped to 6.1 trillion, said the International Telecommunication Union.

This translates to revenues of US$14,000 dollars (S$18,250) every second and 812,000 dollars every minute, said the agency.

Users in the Philippines and the United States were among the most prolific, accounting for 35 per cent of all text messages sent in 2009. -- AFP

Yeah, American teens are obsessed with text messaging. It looks like that's their main form of communication nowadays (pun intended):nuts:

Here's an article from last month:

Adult text messaging use rises to 72 percent, but teens still rule (http://www.examiner.com/technology-in-national/adult-text-messaging-use-rises-to-72-percent-but-teens-still-rule)
September 6th, 2010 2:07 pm ET


The number of Americans under the sway of the text message has increased again, says the latest Pew Resarch study called "Cell phones and American Adults." Still, as you might expect, adults still trail teens by a the considerable number.

The rise, year-over-year, is quite interesting. About 72 percent of adult cell phone users send and receive text messages; last year at the same time the number was 65 percent. Meanwhile, 87 percent of teen cell phone users text, but the percentage hides a much higher number: teens send and receive about 50 SMS messages per day, while adults send and receive five times less, or about 10.

Senior researcher Amanda Lenhart, who wrote the report, said the following: "We’ve reached a point where enough other people are texting that (adults) are drawn into using it because they can finally use it to communicate with a substantial number of their friends and family." In other words, we've reached critical mass as far as text messaging goes.

Additionally, 65 percent of adults admit to sleeping with their cell phone next to their bed. This is despite the fact that more than two in five (42 percent) cell phone owners say they feel annoyed when a call or text interrupts them. However, 91 percent say their cell phones mkae them feel safer, while 88 percent say cell phones help them connect to friends and family to arrange plans. Both of those points should be remembered by those who continue to eschew cell phones; in addition to safety, the second item was cited last year as a way that cell phone "refuseniks" complicate their own lives.

Phones are still being used as phones, with average adult cell phone owner makes or receiving around 5 voice calls a day. This is despite the fact that cell phone data use has climbed while voice calling has dropped (though indeed, SMS messages don't use your data connection).

Still more interesting bullet points:

• 5 percent of all adult texters send more than 200 text messages a day or more than 6,000 texts a month. • Fully 15 percent of teens 12-17, and 18 percent of adults 18 to 24 text message more than 200 messages a day, while just 3 percent of adults 25 to 29 do the same.
• Heavy adult texters – those who send and receive more than 50 texts day -- also tend to be heavy users of voice calling. Light texters, who exchange 1 to 10 texts a day, do not make up for less texting by calling more. Instead, they are light users of both calling and texting.
• 57 percent of adults with cell phones have received unwanted or spam text messages on their phone. (this is most annoying because those without unlimited SMS plans are basically paying for this spam)
• 90 percent of parents are more likely to have a cell phone than adults without children under 18 at home (78 percent).
• 72 percent of parents have slept with their phone, compared to 62 percent of non-parents.
African American and English-speaking Hispanic adults are slightly more likely than whites to own a cell phone, with 87 percent of African-Americans and English speaking Hispanics owning a phone, compared with 80 percent of whites.

Unfortunately, a lot of text messaging takes place behind the wheel, whether it's an adult or a teen. A recent study by Bohan Advertising noted that nearly half of mothers admit to texting not just while driving, but when their children were in the car.

The study data was collected from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for Pew Research, between April 29 and May 30, 2010, from a sample of 2,252 adults aged 18 and older. The teen data came from a study also done by Pew Research, released late last year.

May tanong ako.
Let's say may Ipad ako (WIFI+3G model) and I want to use it as a GPS device pag nasa ibang bansa ako. First and foremost, yung first connection ako would be thru a wifi network. It would costs from a few bucks per day or free (depende sa lugar and stuff). Pero paano pag wala wifi signal? So I guess I have to use the mobile/cellular feature then.

Tanong ko is: Will the rates be charged by my local telecom provider? Or will I be subject to the rates of its roaming partner(s)? Am I required to buy a SIM card (na may 3G or 3.5 G HSPA) para makagamit ako ng GPS sa Ipad ko (pag walang wifi signal)???

Thanks :)

you will be charged with international roaming data charges

Belltel, Liberty telecom, Express Telecom and Eastern Telecom might be merged to form the planned San Miguel telecommunication company.

San Miguel Corp to enter telecom business (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=622371&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Mary Ann LL. Reyes (The Philippine Star) Updated October 20, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is planning to enter the highly competitive cellular mobile telephone service (CMTS) industry via its newly acquired Bell Telecommunication Philippines Inc. (BellTel).

SMC president Ramon Ang told The STAR that “we will be happy to be the fourth player in the cellular market in the future.”

SMC just last August subscribed to shares of stock equivalent to 75 percent of three companies that collectively own 100 percent of BellTel.

BellTel was owned by the Puyat-Reyes and Ortigas families through the three companies: Two Cassandra-CCI Conglomerates Inc., Perchpoint Holdings Corp. and Power Smart Capital Ltd., all of which agreed to sell a controlling stake to SMC’s wholly owned subsidiary Vega Telecom Inc.

SMC and its foreign partner, Qatar Telecom (Q-Tel), already own a controlling stake in Liberty Telecommunication Holdings Inc. and is also reportedly finalizing the acquisition of Express Telecommunications Co. (Extelcom), a company controlled by businessman and former trade minister Roberto Ongpin. There are also ongoing talks between Ongpin and the SMC group to acquire the former’s Eastern Telecommunications Phils. Inc. (ETPI).

Observers note that SMC wants BellTel because it had a 10-megahertz GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) frequency contiguous to that of Extelcom’s. On the other hand, Liberty has broadband wireless access but has no GSM capability.

Under the plan, San Miguel and Q-Tel will create and jointly manage a new holding company for all three telecom interests.

BellTel, which began commercial operations in 2002, offers an integrated package of services, including local and long distance telephony, high speed data connectivity, Internet, cable TV, and videoconferencing. It has various licenses that include local exchange carrier (LEC), international gateway facility (IGF), inter-exchange carrier (IXC), very small aperture terminal (VSAT), and Internet service provider (ISP). It also operates a domestic C-band satellite hub providing connectivity for customers in remote sites not yet covered by its wireless networks. It is authorized to provide the full range of services throughout the Philippines.

The CMTS market in the Philippines is currently composed of three players, namely Smart Communications, which also owns Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise (CURE); Globe Telecom, and the Gokongwei-owned Digital Telecommunications Phils. Inc. (Digitel).

While industry observers believe that the market is already saturated, Ang said he believes there is still room for a fourth player.

Ang earlier told The STAR that SMC wants to position itself as a very strong player in the local telecommunications industry in a bid to further improve telco services in the country and bring down rates to more affordable levels.

At present, SMC has a 32.7 percent stake in Liberty Telecom Holdings via Vega Telecom. It has also signed a memorandum of agreement with Qatar Telecom, which also holds shares in Liberty, to explore areas on wireless broadband and mobile communications projects. He said they have an option to go up to 49 percent.

In the case of Extelcom, the negotiations with Trans Digital Excel Inc. (TDE), the majority shareholder of Extelcom and owned by Ongpin for the acquisition by SMC of TDE’s stake has cleared a major hurdle after the Supreme Court denied a petition filed by Bayan Telecommunications that questioned the dilution of the latter’s stake in Extelcom and the resulting increase in TDE’s shareholdings.

Ang said that they are interested in buying Extelcom because of the frequencies that it owns.

SMC’s acquisition of a stake in Liberty allowed it to go into wireless broadband. Ang also expressed particular interest in voice over the Internet (VoIP) applications, although he admitted that they remain to be very interested in going into mobile cellular telephone services. “If given the opportunity to go into cellular, we will,” he said.

He explained that there is room for a significant fourth player in the telecommunications industry and the CMTS business, as well as for improved telecommunications services and rate.

The SMC top executive head said while the world telecommunications industry is generating an average gross profit of 28 percent, the top two CMTS operators here are making as much as 65 percent. “They are making a killing because there is no real competition,” he stressed.

He added that while regionally, the interconnection rates are low at 20 cents, here, it is as high as P6 per minute.

Ang also noted that even with the presence of a third player in the mobile telephony industry, while this has helped bring down rates and improve services of the two others, there is still no real competition. “As a fourth player, we aim to improve service and rates for the benefit of the Filipino people,” he emphasized.

Yeah, American teens are obsessed with text messaging. It looks like that's their main form of communication nowadays (pun intended):nuts:

Here's an article from last month:

Adult text messaging use rises to 72 percent, but teens still rule (http://www.examiner.com/technology-in-national/adult-text-messaging-use-rises-to-72-percent-but-teens-still-rule)
September 6th, 2010 2:07 pm ET


The number of Americans under the sway of the text message has increased .

:lol:oi, nagtitipid, nag hihirap na rin sila:D dati ayaw nila ng text, kasi may tawag namn, bakit i-text pa:D:lol:

Good news for those unemployed IT/Engineering graduates.. read this :banana:

Mobile Talent in Short Supply as Employers Seek to Fill Jobs :wave:
Bloomberg.net
By Douglas MacMillan
Oct 21, 2010 12:01 PM

Almost 57 percent of employers and outside recruiters that hired for mobile-related jobs this year plan to boost such hires in the next 12 months, the survey, conducted on behalf of Bloomberg Businessweek.com, showed. More than half the respondents described the supply of quality mobile-software designers and engineers as “scarce.”

Companies need app developers as the market for mobile software surges to $17.5 billion by 2012, from $4.1 billion last year, according to a study by Chetan Sharma Consulting. The demand for programmers who can write for mobile platforms, such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone, Google Inc.’s Android and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, has stoked competition among recruiters, driven up salaries and led employers to consider getting new talent through acquisitions.

“We’re seeing a lot of companies that have mobile as a component of their strategy,” said Steve Fredrick, general partner at private-equity firm Grotech Ventures in Vienna, Virginia, and founder of job site StartUpHire. “There just aren’t that many people who have experience with mobile software, and there’s a desire for people who know how to make that work.”

Small Rise

The software publishing industry employed 257,300 workers in August, an increase of just 0.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The online survey, conducted Oct. 11-15, was based on 283 recruiters who use New York-based Dice’s site and said they had hired mobile professionals this year. Dice sells services to businesses who recruit employees through its site.

More than a fifth of respondents said they hired substantially more mobile experts this year than last year, and more than a third said they added slightly more. Some 36 percent hired about the same number, while 6.6 percent said mobile hiring fell this year.

In the next 12 months, a fifth of recruiters anticipate a substantial increase in hiring, 37 percent see a slight increase, and 34 percent plan to hire about the same number.

The most common salary range for mobile engineers and designers was $75,001 to $100,000, according to 41 percent of respondents. About 28 percent said average pay was $100,001 to $125,000, while 21 percent said it was $50,001 to $75,000.

Higher Salaries

Almost a third of employers raised salary levels for the average mobile worker “higher than normal,” citing the increase in demand for talent.

Experience with Apple’s mobile platform carried the most weight on resumes, with 72 percent of recruiters saying they are hiring for development of iPhone applications, and 38 percent saying iPhone expertise is the most attractive among platforms.

“Anybody that has an application that has been working on a notebook now wants that to work on an iPad, an iPhone and on Google Android,” said Todd Thibodeaux, chief executive officer of the trade group Computing Technology Industry Association in Oak Brook, Illinois.

He described the supply of qualified talent as “scant.” “There’s a whole bunch of specialties that have to develop and emerge there,” Thibodeaux said.

Android Software

About 60 percent are hiring for Android development, and 23 percent said new recruits with knowledge of Google’s platform is most highly prized. Some 48 percent of employers are hiring for BlackBerry, while just 16.1 percent said that’s the most desirable type of mobile expertise.

This month, Dice’s site had 758 job listings requiring skills or experience with the iPhone, up from 264 a year ago. The site had 685 listings requiring Android skills, up from 158.

“If you look at jobs that require either iPhone skills or Android skills, the number of jobs is still pretty small, but if you look at the growth rate, it’s huge,” said Tom Silver, senior vice president at Dice.

Mobile was described as one of the top three priorities in technology hiring by 35 percent of employers. A year from now, as more businesses incorporate mobile technology, Silver predicts that number will be closer to 50 percent.

The vast majority of employers, or 95 percent, said mobile hiring was either competitive or extremely competitive.

Overseas Demand

That competition has intensified partly because of increased demand for talent in other countries, especially India and China, said Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a San Jose, California-based group formed by business leaders to focus on talent-pool concerns in the region.

While programmers and other skilled workers from India and China have had a significant presence in technology companies during the Internet boom, “in the past decade, that has tailed off significantly,” Hancock said.



Some businesses are resorting to acquisitions. About half of the respondents plan to add mobile-software expertise by buying companies in the next 12 months.

Other companies have learned to be more flexible in their hiring. Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of local-business reviews site Yelp Inc., said he began recruiting engineers talented enough to learn and adjust to new types of mobile platforms.

“If you’re doing searches for people with iPhone experience, it isn’t going to be a deep pool of people,” Stoppelman said. “We just look for good engineers.”

Just a food for thought...

Will there be chances for replacing our aging Agila 2 Satellite?

Postpaid cellular war persists
Sunday, 24 October 2010 10:24 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


THE battle for postpaid subscriber count continues.

It started on September 22 when Sun Cellular, the mobile brand of the country’s third-largest mobile phone network operator Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., claimed it’s now the leading postpaid mobile phone service provider after it registered its first million postpaid subscriber count.

At end-September, Sun Cellular’s official figures for postpaid subscription reached 1,010,289.

“Sun Cellular is clearly the number one in postpaid business. We achieved this never-before-attained milestone only seven years from start up and with our rivals enjoying a 10-year headstart. We are getting seven out of every 10 new postpaid subscribers,” said Charles Lim, Sun Cellular business unit chief executive officer.

Sun Cellular’s rivals Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. have indeed registered lower postpaid subscribers compared with that of Sun Cellular. Official and available figures as of end-June this year showed that Globe recorded 909,466 postpaid numbers while Smart registered 439,844. The numbers of Globe and Smart, however, only cover the period of end-June compared to Sun’s end-September figures.

Between Globe and Smart, the latter kept mum on Sun Cellular’s claim while Globe disputed this in its many paid advertisement and press releases claiming it is still unbeaten in terms of postpaid subscription numbers.

Industry regulator National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) confirmed the numbers provided by Sun Cellular.  “Those are the same subscriber count provided by Sun Cellular. We all know that Smart has the largest subscriber base largely because of its huge prepaid numbers. Based on numbers periodically provided, Sun’s postpaid subscriber base has  overtaken Smart and Globe but we don’t know if that stays the same now because Globe and Smart have yet to release their third quarter numbers,” said the agency’s director Edgardo Cabarios.

Since Globe is not authorized to disclose its end-September figures until it releases its third-quarter numbers next month, the cellular firm cited Nielsen's April-to-August research which showed that it maintained a significant lead over competitors in the postpaid segment. Aggregate data showed Globe cornered 48 percent of the total base of all consumer postpaid owners nationwide, definitely higher than Sun’s 28 percent and Smart’s 23 percent postpaid SIM share. 

Globe also claimed that it has the highest mobile postpaid revenue share in the industry. Company filings for the first half of the year showed that Globe has postpaid service revenues of P6.8 billion while Smart has P3.4 billion.  Sun and its listed parent company Digitel have not disclosed any comparable figure. 

Sun Cellular, which started commercial operations in 2003, is not threatened. “With every seven out of 10 new postpaid subscribers coming to us, we have found the sweet spot. We expect to gain more market share in the near future since our rivals will not be able to match our unlimited packages,” said Lim.

The key, said Lim, is Sun Cellular’s unmatched unlimited service and rates. Both of these are possible because Sun’s network uses the latest technology available.

“We can meet peak load demand without congestion. This is the advantage of being a latecomer in the business. We got the latest and the best infrastructure, and are offering rates that could reduce a subscriber’s cost anywhere from 40 to 80 percent per month,” he said.

Posted on its website, the lowest postpaid plan offered by Sun Cellular is P350 a month. The subscriber has three options to choose from.

The subscriber can opt for unlimited call and text within the same network, plus with 250 free text messages to other networks.

Or, for the same plan, a subscriber can enjoy unlimited SMS (short message service) within the same network, plus P200 consumable which may be used for calls to other networks or for Sun to Sun multi-media service or for SMS to email service.

Also, for P350 a month, this plan is fully consumable which may be used for calls to other networks or for Sun-to-Sun multimedia service or for SMS to email service. The P350 plan also has comes with 250 free SMS to other networks.

On the average, the postpaid subscriber count of any cellular firm account for about two to three percent of its total subscriber base. At end-June, Smart registered a total of 45.3 million subscribers; Globe with 24.6 million; and Sun Cellular with over 16 million.

Their numbers are changing and by next month when they report their third-quarter numbers it will be known which of the three landed on the No. 1 spot for most postpaid subscriptions.   


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/2847-postpaid-cellular-war-persists

Postpaid cellular war persists
Sunday, 24 October 2010 10:24 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


THE battle for postpaid subscriber count continues.

It started on September 22 when Sun Cellular, the mobile brand of the country’s third-largest mobile phone network operator Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., claimed it’s now the leading postpaid mobile phone service provider after it registered its first million postpaid subscriber count.

At end-September, Sun Cellular’s official figures for postpaid subscription reached 1,010,289.

“Sun Cellular is clearly the number one in postpaid business. We achieved this never-before-attained milestone only seven years from start up and with our rivals enjoying a 10-year headstart. We are getting seven out of every 10 new postpaid subscribers,” said Charles Lim, Sun Cellular business unit chief executive officer.

Sun Cellular’s rivals Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. have indeed registered lower postpaid subscribers compared with that of Sun Cellular. Official and available figures as of end-June this year showed that Globe recorded 909,466 postpaid numbers while Smart registered 439,844. The numbers of Globe and Smart, however, only cover the period of end-June compared to Sun’s end-September figures.

Between Globe and Smart, the latter kept mum on Sun Cellular’s claim while Globe disputed this in its many paid advertisement and press releases claiming it is still unbeaten in terms of postpaid subscription numbers.

Industry regulator National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) confirmed the numbers provided by Sun Cellular.  “Those are the same subscriber count provided by Sun Cellular. We all know that Smart has the largest subscriber base largely because of its huge prepaid numbers. Based on numbers periodically provided, Sun’s postpaid subscriber base has  overtaken Smart and Globe but we don’t know if that stays the same now because Globe and Smart have yet to release their third quarter numbers,” said the agency’s director Edgardo Cabarios.

Since Globe is not authorized to disclose its end-September figures until it releases its third-quarter numbers next month, the cellular firm cited Nielsen's April-to-August research which showed that it maintained a significant lead over competitors in the postpaid segment. Aggregate data showed Globe cornered 48 percent of the total base of all consumer postpaid owners nationwide, definitely higher than Sun’s 28 percent and Smart’s 23 percent postpaid SIM share. 

Globe also claimed that it has the highest mobile postpaid revenue share in the industry. Company filings for the first half of the year showed that Globe has postpaid service revenues of P6.8 billion while Smart has P3.4 billion.  Sun and its listed parent company Digitel have not disclosed any comparable figure. 

Sun Cellular, which started commercial operations in 2003, is not threatened. “With every seven out of 10 new postpaid subscribers coming to us, we have found the sweet spot. We expect to gain more market share in the near future since our rivals will not be able to match our unlimited packages,” said Lim.

The key, said Lim, is Sun Cellular’s unmatched unlimited service and rates. Both of these are possible because Sun’s network uses the latest technology available.

“We can meet peak load demand without congestion. This is the advantage of being a latecomer in the business. We got the latest and the best infrastructure, and are offering rates that could reduce a subscriber’s cost anywhere from 40 to 80 percent per month,” he said.

Posted on its website, the lowest postpaid plan offered by Sun Cellular is P350 a month. The subscriber has three options to choose from.

The subscriber can opt for unlimited call and text within the same network, plus with 250 free text messages to other networks.

Or, for the same plan, a subscriber can enjoy unlimited SMS (short message service) within the same network, plus P200 consumable which may be used for calls to other networks or for Sun to Sun multi-media service or for SMS to email service.

Also, for P350 a month, this plan is fully consumable which may be used for calls to other networks or for Sun-to-Sun multimedia service or for SMS to email service. The P350 plan also has comes with 250 free SMS to other networks.

On the average, the postpaid subscriber count of any cellular firm account for about two to three percent of its total subscriber base. At end-June, Smart registered a total of 45.3 million subscribers; Globe with 24.6 million; and Sun Cellular with over 16 million.

Their numbers are changing and by next month when they report their third-quarter numbers it will be known which of the three landed on the No. 1 spot for most postpaid subscriptions.   


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/2847-postpaid-cellular-war-persists

This is an interesting contest to watch. I remember Sun Cellular executives telling me two years ago that they have their sights on Globe when it comes to postpaid, and true enough, they are moving closer to that reality.

The highlighted text above is true. While Sun may have the numbers, their ARPU (average revenue per user) is significantly lower than that of Globe, especially so in the postpaid sector. Globe is wise enough to increase ARPU by offering add ons like Super-Unli, SuperDuo, etc. etc. which, as the term denotes, are ON TOP of the monthly charges, and to Globe or Touch Mobile phones only. Sun already has this built into their postpaid plan (unlimited Sun-to-Sun calls and SMS), so their ARPU for postpaid will definitely be much lower. Which is also the reason why I believe their claim that 7 out of 10 new postpaid subscribers go to Sun...because most of the target market for postpaid, Globe would already have since many years ago.

Now in my example, (I've been a Globe postpaid subscriber since 15 years ago and have 5 lines in my name), how does Globe really count its total number of postpaid subscribers? By number of lines? That's not really a good way of measuring things. Which is why all those 3 telcos claim up to 80% penetration rate of the total population, are they kidding us in saying that even 5 year olds have their own cellphones with existing and valid phone numbers?:bash:

basta I love these telcos IN ORDER:

1.) Sun
2.) Globe

;)

basta I love these telcos IN ORDER:

1.) Sun
2.) Globe

;)

Why not Smart? Isn't the signal of Smart in your place better than that of Sun Cellular or Globe?

Just wondering because signal strength is the only good thing I can think about Smart having over the other 2 telcos. As for their customer service, all of them suck:bash: it's a matter of who is the lesser evil when it comes to customer service.

Telcos told to reveal broadband speeds

Tuesday, 26 October 2010 00:00
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BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER

AMID rising consumer complaints, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) plans to require telecommunication companies to reveal the minimum speed of their broadband services. Gamaliel Cordoba, NTC commissioner, told reporters the gency has drafted a memorandum order on broadband speed to address the concern raised by the Department of Trade and Industry about the poor broadband service of telcos.

Data from the NTC showed that complaints lodged against telcos have reached 622 in the first nine months of the year. Of the total, more than half pertained to poor Internet connections.

Other consumer complaints ranged from erroneous billing to poor service, vanishing pre-paid load credits, e-load issues, and misleading promos.

Cordoba said the MO will require telcos to reveal to the consumers the minimum speed of their broadband services since telcos are only disclosing “up to” the maximum broadband speed.

The NTC already sent letters to Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Smart Communications Inc.,
Globe Telecom, Digital Telecommunications Phils Inc., Bayan Telecommunications Inc., and other broadband service providers seeking their position papers.

Under Memorandum Circular 19-12-04 or the Service Performance Standards for Internet Access Services and Wired Telecommunication Services, the bandwidth throughput for Internet access is up to 98.5 percent.

For dial-up access, the telcos are mandated to deliver at least 80 percent of committed information status and for leased line access, 99 percent.

To serve the rising consumer demand for broadband, Cordoba said NTC may re-allocate other frequencies to broadband access networks under its policy of technology neutrality.

“This policy is consistent with a frequency re-farming approach where telecommunications entities are allowed to implement any technology using their assigned frequencies,” the NTC chief said.

The NTC has reallocated more than 800 megahertz (MHz) of radio spectrum to broadband access networks.

NTC data showed that the country’s broadband subscribers stood at 3.6 million last year, up by 102.81 percent from 1.77 million in 2008.

The NTC projected broadband subscribers would grow by three digits in the next two to three years.



http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business-columns/30526-telcos-told-to-reveal-broadband-speeds-

basta I love these telcos IN ORDER:

1.) Sun
2.) Globe

;)


Why not Smart? Isn't the signal of Smart in your place better than that of Sun Cellular or Globe?

Just wondering because signal strength is the only good thing I can think about Smart having over the other 2 telcos. As for their customer service, all of them suck:bash: it's a matter of who is the lesser evil when it comes to customer service.

the signal of Sun here in our place in zamboanga isn't that good compared to globe. I'm experiencing frequent disconnection in my calls. I don't know with marlowe but I'll put sun on the number 3 spot. Smart for 2 and Globe for number 1.

NTC wants full disclosure on broadband Internet links :lol:

The Daily Tribune
October 26, 2010

Amid rising consumer complaints, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) plans to require telecom companies to reveal the minimum speed of their broadband services.

NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba told reporters that a draft NTC memorandum order (MO) on broadband speed will address the concerns raised by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) about slow Internet connections contrary to what telecom firms advertise.

NTC data showed that complaints lodged against telcos reached 622 in the first nine months of the year.

Of the total number of complaints posted during the period, more than 50 percent pertained to poor Internet connections.

Other consumer complaints ranged from erroneous billing to poor service, vanishing pre-paid load credits, e-load issues, and misleading promos.

Cordoba said the MO will require telcos to reveal to the consumers the minimum speed of their broadband services.

Currently, telecom firms are only disclosing the maximum speed of their broadband Internet connection services.

NTC data showed that the country’s broadband subscribers stood at 3.6 million last year, up by 102.81 percent from the 1.77 million in 2008.

The NTC projected broadband subscribers to register a three-digit growth in the next two to three years.

Cordova said the NTC had sent letters to Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., (PLDT), Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom, Digital Telecommunications Phils Inc., Bayan Telecommunications Inc., and other broadband service providers to submit a position papers.

Under Memorandum Circular 19-12-04 or the Service Performance Standards for Internet Access Services and Wired Telecommunication Services, the bandwidth throughput for Internet Access is up to 98.5 percent.

For dial-up access, the telcos are mandated to deliver at least 80 percent of committed information status and 99 percent for leased line access.

To serve the rising consumer demand for broadband, Cordoba said the NTC was considering to re-allocate other frequency to broadband access networks, amid the regulator’s policy of technology neutrality.

the signal of Sun here in our place in zamboanga isn't that good compared to globe. I'm experiencing frequent disconnection in my calls. I don't know with marlowe but I'll put sun on the number 3 spot. Smart for 2 and Globe for number 1.

Ah, the famous 1 hour cutoff with Sun Cellular. So in reality, the unlimited Sun-to-Sun is more like, "call as much as you want but for one hour intervals only". In some cases, calls get disconnected after a few minutes. That also used to be the problem with PLDT wireless landlines.

With Globe, the problem is mostly reception related, and in many cases, calls where the call timer is already running but you can hardly hear the other person at the other end of the line. What I hate about it is that you get charged for that call (P6.50) even if the call was barely audible. Globe has seen its service deteriorate since Ondoy of last year.:bash:

NTC wants full disclosure on broadband Internet links :lol:

The Daily Tribune
October 26, 2010

Amid rising consumer complaints, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) plans to require telecom companies to reveal the minimum speed of their broadband services.

NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba told reporters that a draft NTC memorandum order (MO) on broadband speed will address the concerns raised by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) about slow Internet connections contrary to what telecom firms advertise.

NTC data showed that complaints lodged against telcos reached 622 in the first nine months of the year.

Of the total number of complaints posted during the period, more than 50 percent pertained to poor Internet connections.

Other consumer complaints ranged from erroneous billing to poor service, vanishing pre-paid load credits, e-load issues, and misleading promos.

Cordoba said the MO will require telcos to reveal to the consumers the minimum speed of their broadband services.

Currently, telecom firms are only disclosing the maximum speed of their broadband Internet connection services.

NTC data showed that the country’s broadband subscribers stood at 3.6 million last year, up by 102.81 percent from the 1.77 million in 2008.

The NTC projected broadband subscribers to register a three-digit growth in the next two to three years.

Cordova said the NTC had sent letters to Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., (PLDT), Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom, Digital Telecommunications Phils Inc., Bayan Telecommunications Inc., and other broadband service providers to submit a position papers.

Under Memorandum Circular 19-12-04 or the Service Performance Standards for Internet Access Services and Wired Telecommunication Services, the bandwidth throughput for Internet Access is up to 98.5 percent.

For dial-up access, the telcos are mandated to deliver at least 80 percent of committed information status and 99 percent for leased line access.

To serve the rising consumer demand for broadband, Cordoba said the NTC was considering to re-allocate other frequency to broadband access networks, amid the regulator’s policy of technology neutrality.

THIS PAWNS ALL DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING (NO MORE FLEXING MUSCLES, NO MORE SPEED CHALLENGES, NO MORE BS.)

(Sorry for posting in caps. A lot of people are scammed into this. And THEY SHOULD AVOID PUTTING A 1 YEAR LOCK-IN PERIOD!)

THIS PAWNS ALL DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING (NO MORE FLEXING MUSCLES, NO MORE SPEED CHALLENGES, NO MORE BS.)

(Sorry for posting in caps. A lot of people are scammed into this. And THEY SHOULD AVOID PUTTING A 1 YEAR LOCK-IN PERIOD!)


I agree, I'm using PLDT at home and most of the time the connection is so slow it has become exasperating, this after we experienced the same with our Globe broadband which we had discontinued and switched to pldt, maybe I should try Sun?.....:(

wish they would improve their service before gloating....


Smart claims lead in broadband

SMART COMMUNICATIONS, Inc. on Wednesday claimed to have more than 8.3 million broadband subscribers in both prepaid and postpaid segments.

In a statement, Smart Broadband, Inc., the firm's broadband unit, said it now serves more than 1.3 million subscribers while about seven million more access the Internet through "native services" such as mobile subscription.

"This is expected to help hike the number of Internet users in the country, pegged at about 29.7 million as of June 2010, or about 30% of the country’s estimated 2010 population of almost 100 million Filipinos," Smart Communications said.

Danilo Mojica, Smart Communication's Wireless Consumer Division head, said the firm expects to gain even more broadband subscribers.

“We continue to expand this array of options in order to deliver as many access points to our subscribers as possible, at costs that are within their means, regardless of the device that they have in their homes or in their hands," he said.

Smart Communications is the mobile unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT's Beneficial Trust Fund, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan


http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=20166

^^ I used to be their wireless prepaid broadband user. But due to lousy service like mysterious missing prepaid minute and very slow access using my netbook I shifted back to fixed broadband service. For wireless access I still rely more on wifi which is more stable and free in some shopping mall.

I agree, I'm using PLDT at home and most of the time the connection is so slow it has become exasperating, this after we experienced the same with our Globe broadband which we had discontinued and switched to pldt, maybe I should try Sun?.....:(

So you already tried three ISPs? Very bad...

Why not Smart? Isn't the signal of Smart in your place better than that of Sun Cellular or Globe?

Just wondering because signal strength is the only good thing I can think about Smart having over the other 2 telcos. As for their customer service, all of them suck:bash: it's a matter of who is the lesser evil when it comes to customer service.


That I don't know. As far as Zamboanga City consumers' concerned, malakas tlga Globe/TM, far second Smart/TnT, then ang palakas ng palakas na SunCel. Ewan ko lang sa Zam Sur at ZaNorte, I believe, Smart ang malakas. Pero s city, it's Globe/TM.


On the other hand, Customer Service of Sun is way way better, 'coz in my personal experience, mabilis ang response nila than Globe.


Oh, here sa ZC, anghirap mag-SUPERUNLI. makailang attempts bago maka-connect. Sa Sun, super wala sa aberya. Walang problema! ;)

^ that means kunti lang ang subs ng sun sa lugar nyo kumpara sa globe.

wish they would improve their service before gloating....


Smart claims lead in broadband

SMART COMMUNICATIONS, Inc. on Wednesday claimed to have more than 8.3 million broadband subscribers in both prepaid and postpaid segments.

In a statement, Smart Broadband, Inc., the firm's broadband unit, said it now serves more than 1.3 million subscribers while about seven million more access the Internet through "native services" such as mobile subscription.

"This is expected to help hike the number of Internet users in the country, pegged at about 29.7 million as of June 2010, or about 30% of the country’s estimated 2010 population of almost 100 million Filipinos," Smart Communications said.

Danilo Mojica, Smart Communication's Wireless Consumer Division head, said the firm expects to gain even more broadband subscribers.

“We continue to expand this array of options in order to deliver as many access points to our subscribers as possible, at costs that are within their means, regardless of the device that they have in their homes or in their hands," he said.

Smart Communications is the mobile unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT's Beneficial Trust Fund, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan


http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=20166

They should think about the people they gotten into. A day isn't enough to read the long list of complaints to these folks.

mala broadband nga ba ang speed? :|

That I don't know. As far as Zamboanga City consumers' concerned, malakas tlga Globe/TM, far second Smart/TnT, then ang palakas ng palakas na SunCel. Ewan ko lang sa Zam Sur at ZaNorte, I believe, Smart ang malakas. Pero s city, it's Globe/TM.


On the other hand, Customer Service of Sun is way way better, 'coz in my personal experience, mabilis ang response nila than Globe.


Oh, here sa ZC, anghirap mag-SUPERUNLI. makailang attempts bago maka-connect. Sa Sun, super wala sa aberya. Walang problema! ;)

Hmmm...customer service of Sun even better than Globe? Well, I know from 2 years ago their call center agents were lousy in general but it seems they have improved since then. As for Globe, I have seen how their customer service has deteriorated since 1995. Before, postpaid users were a big chunk of their subscriber base, and they had dedicated agents handling postpaid queries. Then came the outsourced call centers (at least 3 locally for Globe) who started handling prepaid inquiries and calls. Now, even the technical support issues are handled by outsourced call centers...and their agents are not close when it comes to professionalism and product knowledge and issue resolution compared to the Globe employees.

Oh, the super UNLI, SuperDUO and all other unlimited promos of Globe have been having problems for quite some time now. You will have to dial at least 2-3 times before you get connected and can hear the other person on the other line. I noticed their customer service regarding handling reception issues has gone down the drain since Ondoy.:bash:

SingTel Optus Misled Australians With Broadband Advertisements, Judge Says

Bloomberg News
By Joe Schneider - Oct 29, 2010 3:10 PM GMT+0800

SingTel Optus Pty Ltd. misled Australians in print, television and online advertisements for its broadband service that promised data plans customers weren’t likely to receive, a federal court judge ruled.

SingTel Optus, a unit of Southeast Asia’s biggest phone operator Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., advertised broadband plans that offered up to 170 gigabytes of data per month for a set price, while noting in fine print if customers exceeded a set limit during peak hours, the whole service would be slowed to 64 kilobytes per second, a fraction of the broadband speed that can be as high as 100,000 kilobytes per second.

“This advertisement is misleading, seriously so,” Judge Nye Perram said of a television ad featuring a moose with oversized antlers. The disclaimer outlining the limits of the offer is only discernible by “often using the pause button,” the judge said.

Singtel Optus can’t rely on call centers or hard-to-read print for disclosure if the main message of an advertisement is misleading, the judge ruled, setting a bar for other Australian companies that rely on fine print to clarify limitations in an ad.

Perram, who read the verdict from the bench and said a written version would be available Nov. 2, plans to hold a hearing later to determine the penalties to impose on SingTel Optus. A date for the hearing hasn’t been set.

Fines Sought

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which sued SingTel Optus, is seeking an order forcing the company to run corrective ads and pay fines.

The judge today issued an order prohibiting SingTel Optus from again running the ads. The company had stopped the campaign last month, a move Perram said may have been “opportunistic.”

Television, billboard and newspaper advertising directs potential customers to call the telecommunications company, or go to its web site, Matthew Darke, SingTel Optus’s lawyer said at a hearing earlier this week. The customers get complete disclosure of the limitations of the service from the call center or the web site, he said.

Consumers research broadband offerings before purchasing, according to Optus’s studies, Darke said.

“Consumers don’t purchase broadband services on impulse,” he said.

Globe broadband subscribers surpass 1-M
BusinessWorld
Posted at 11/02/2010 4:22 AM | Updated as of 11/02/2010 4:22 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Telecom, Inc. said the number of its broadband Internet subscribers has ballooned by 95% in the past nine months, inching closer to market leader and rival Smart Communications, Inc.

In a statement on Friday, Globe Telecom said it now has 1,006,460 broadband subscribers, compared with 517,355 in the same period last year.

“The figure is nearly double [last year’s] and does not include those subscribers availing of mobile surfing offers,” the firm said.

Ernest L. Cu, Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer, said in the same statement his company expected the growth trajectory to continue until the year ends.

“We are seeing robust growth in subscriber take up for our Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Broadband Tattoo and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) offers especially in the provinces,” he said.

Mr. Cu also noted that the company had a compounded annual growth rate of 123% in broadband users since 2006.

“Globe WiMAX subscribers surpassed the 100,000 mark last July. We have now one of the largest WiMAX deployments in Southeast Asia, while other providers are just starting to roll out their services for the at-home broadband market,” he said.

The firm described WiMAX as a “next-generation fixed wireless broadband technology for areas not covered by traditional wired Internet solutions.”

“We are covering nearly 60 provinces and 365 cities in the country including Metro Manila; Caloocan City; Cainta, Antipolo and Taytay in Rizal; Plaridel in Bulacan; Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija; Dasmariñas, Bacoor, Imus and Tanza in Cavite; Calamba in Laguna; Batangas City; Cebu City; Cagayan de Oro; and Zamboanga,” he said.

Smart Communications earlier claimed to have 1.3 million broadband subscribers, with about seven million more surfing the Internet through mobile phones.

Napoleon L. Nazareno, Smart Communications president and chief executive officer, told reporters the company was not affected by other companies’ claims of being No. 1 in broadband.

“The market share we have revenue-wise is 12% to 16%, and 59% of the actual number of subscribers. The market share had gone up,” he said.

Despite P32B profit, PLDT eyes job cuts

The Daily Tribune
By Danessa O. Rivera
11/05/2010

Dominant telecommunications firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) plans to lay off employees, saying its net profit for the nine months to September rose a less than expected seven percent to P32 billion as it was hit by stiffer competition and a strong peso.

The country’s leading carrier warned that the next two years would be critical for the firm as it redirects its focus in the telecoms business.

PLDT said it made a net profit of P32 billion in January-September, compared with P30.02 billion at the same point in 2009, while service revenues fell 1.0 percent to P106.7 billion.

PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said in a statement: “While we expect our service revenues to be slightly under our previous guidance, we estimate core net income for 2010 to rise to P41.5 billion, assuming the peso does not appreciate much further.”

PLDT president and chief executive Napoleon Nazareno said tougher competition and the appreciation of the peso against the dollar were both impacting its mobile phone and fixed line businesses.

Consolidated service revenues of the firm decreased by 1 percent to P106.7 billion, reflecting the combined effect of a 20 percent increase in combined fixed and wireless broadband revenue; a 12 percent growth in cellular voice revenues, which includes a 24 percent increase in domestic voice revenues; an 18 percent rise in revenues from fixed data and other network services to third parties; a 13 percent reduction in cellular text revenues; a 34 percent decline in NLD revenues; and a 16 percent decrease in ILD revenues.

“We are facing challenging times for the (mobile phone) industry — organic growth is limited and declining yields and alternative means of communication are exerting pressure on revenues and margins,” Nazareno said.

The peso has risen about 10 percent against the greenback in the past year.

The US unit has slipped against most Asian currencies as traders flood the region with hot money in a bid to get a better return on their investments compared with the West.

PLDT posted a record net profit of P39.78 billion last year, up 15 percent over 2008.

Pangilinan was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying PLDT plans to cut up to 1,200 jobs next year out of its work force of 13,000, which would cost P2 billion in severance payouts.

Pangilinan said in the statement that the firm’s investments in power retailer Manila Electric Co., in which it is now the single largest shareholder, cushioned the impact of the exchange rate and competitive pressures.

PLDT to transform into 'multimedia group' in 3 years

By Lenie Lectura, Business Mirror
Posted at 11/05/2010 5:25 AM | Updated as of 11/05/2010 5:31 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Two to three years from now phone giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) expects to complete its transformation from a traditional telecom service provider to a “multimedia communications group,” a move seen necessary to arrest declining revenues.

The phone giant has, in fact, started to move its subscribers away from traditional telco services over to the Internet by providing them with options—starting with mobile Internet browsing. Looking forward, the PLDT group also intends to construct a smart grid, which can deliver electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way digital technology to control appliances at consumers’ homes.

“There is a whole range of communication requirements that we can deliver. We have not completed yet to becoming a multimedia communications group but we are moving to that direction. The video component is still missing. There should be a network configuration to transport content rich-type platform,” said PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan yesterday as he reported on the company’s third-quarter performance.

This transformation will be undertaken hopefully until 2012. Right now, Pangilinan described the market as “intense.” He noted that “It’s so intense that the company had removed 1.2 million inactive cellular subscribers from its network at end-September; will reduce headcount by a significant number by year-end and; and put in place other initiatives to reduce network operating costs.”

The transformation is being undertaken at a time when the operating environment has become increasingly price competitive and market share sensitive. Pangilinan said the change in the PLDT group’s revenue mix is putting significant pressure on margins on earning before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) such that efficiency and cost control are critical.

At end-September, PLDT’s third-quarter net profit was flat at P10.3 billion, the same level as its net income a year earlier. Core net profit, which excludes currency and derivatives-related items, increased only about 1% to P10.19 billion.

PLDT said its core net profit guidance for 2010 was P41.5 billion, nearly flat from 2009. This is on account of expected lower cellular revenues as the mobile phone business remains under pressure from tough competition in a nearly saturated market.

Though PLDT posted a 2% increase in net profit for the first three quarters of the year, its revenues during the same period dropped by 1% to P106.7 billion from P108.3 billion in the same period last year. The company’s revenues are sourced from its wireless business, which declined by 1% to P70.4 billion from P71.2 billion, and fixed line segment, which also went down by 4% to P36.8 billion from P38.2 billion.

PLDT’s cellular revenues, particularly from its short message service (SMS), also remains under pressure from the proliferation of lower yield offerings, multiple-SIM ownership and regulator-mandated load validity extensions, said PLDT president and chief executive Napoleon Nazareno,

In fact, text revenues fell 13% to P31 billion at-end September despite a 25% increase in text volumes as yields went down to P0.13 per text from P0.18 due to growth of bucket plans.

For voice, traffic increased by 140% but the yield was lower by 50% to P1.20 per minute.

PLDT’s wireless subscribers stood at 44.1 million in the third quarter from 45.3 million at end-June this year. The reduction mostly came from the SIMs (subscriber identification module) that were used for campaigning during the recently concluded polls and are no longer being utilized.

“Ten years ago, text messaging just started to boom. No one had imagined that text revenues would be dropping but that’s happening now. In the coming years, people will communicate differently. There is no clear path for now. In many ways, we must invent new applications. We must be deliberate and smart about this whole thing,” said Pangilinan.

The PLDT executive said the 2010 performance underscores earlier statements that 2010-2012 would be a critical period in the PLDT Group’s transformation.

A closer look at the underlying revenue mix will show that on-going transition of revenue streams with the lower traditional sources are being replaced by the growth of new revenue streams.

PLDT was also forced to implement a manpower reduction program as part of its cost control measures. It would cut its workforce by 850 from the current 13,000 by end of the year. However, this organizational rationalization will help save the company P1 billion a year.

“This will allow us to align the skill sets of our workforce so that we remain responsive to the changes in our business and the new technologies we are deploying,” said Pangilinan.

Moreover, the phone giant will continue to implement measures that will reduce network operating costs, not the least of which will be realized from the switch of the legacy fixed line network to a next generation network.

“To achieve the transformation and further strengthen our growth potential, investments in strengthening our network for coverage, capacity and diversity will continue,” said Pangilinan.

PLDT has set aside P28.6 billion for capital expenditures this year. It has so far spent P16.9 billion at end-September. Nazareno said substantial investments have gone into building network capacity to support both voice and data usage which have grown exponentially in recent years.

Telco to suspend ’unlimited’ promos during holiday break

BY Aura Marie P. Dagcutan
BusinessWorld
November 5, 2010

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. plans to withdraw an application to extend unlimited call and text promotions to subscribers to avoid network congestion during the holidays, while rival Smart Communications, Inc. is reviewing its offerings.

Ernest L. Cu, Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer, told reporters "network freezing" was an annual practice to avoid the heavy traffic of calls and text messages.

"The network freezing will be done on Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1. We want to give our customers quality service by controlling the traffic volume," he said.

"Network freezing" for the holidays still has to be approved by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Last year, the NTC approved telcos’ request to suspend text and voice promos temporarily on Christmas and New Year, two of their busiest days. Smart Communications and Globe Telecom suspended their unlimited call and text promos from Dec. 23 to 25 and from Dec. 30 to Jan. 1 in 2009.

Smart Communications spokesman Ramon R. Isberto said in a telephone interview the company still has to review existing promos that will end beyond Jan.1.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co., the parent firm of Smart Communications, had said broadband would drive growth as its core mobile phone business comes under pressure, and it would cut jobs to manage costs.

Globe Telecom continued to face pressure as well, reporting a 24% drop in net income to P7.4 billion for the January to September period, from P9.9 billion last year.

PLDT, owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT Communications and NTT DoCoMo, said Thursday consolidated net income inched up by 7% to P32 billion during the same period. Third-quarter net profit was flat from a year ago.

Mobile service providers including PLDT have been offering cheap text packages that have led to people making less mobile phone calls, eroding the PLDT group’s revenue base.

Mobile penetration is estimated at about 82% in the population of around 95 million. An average of around two billion mobile text messages are sent daily in the Philippines, with even the central bank governor sending out policy messages by text.

The telco’s mobile phone subscriber base fell to 44.1 million at the end of September from 45.3 million in June.

Globe Telecom said it had more than 980,000 postpaid subscribers, up by 16% compared with last year. The total number of its postpaid and prepaid mobile subscribers stood at 25.4 million, 10% higher than last year’s 23.1 million.

^^I wonder how this will affect those of us who have Globe SuperDuo or MySuperPlan with SuperUNLI built into the plan (postpaid). Probably wouldn't. Postpaid subscribers account for below 5% of Globe's total subscriber base. Ditto for those on Smart Gold postpaid with their calling circle promos.

Interesting the article cites that PLDT or Smart's "mobile phone subscriber base fell to 44.1 million at the end of September from 45.3 million in June.". Probably loss of their prepaid users. Wonder if Globe or Sun took up the slack...it seems so with all these pronouncements that they are the no. 1 in postpaid subscribers. They haven't been touting their prepaid numbers as much lately, although it's obvious from the last sentence of the article Globe has increased both prepaid and postpaid by 10%, or about 2.3 million subscribers.

I wish they would make me happy as I had been a loyal subscriber since 1998.....


Globe intent on keeping subscribers happy

ALTHOUGH we should always be grateful for each birthday or anniversary, we usually celebrate milestone years: a child’s first and seventh birthdays, a young woman’s debut at 18 or a couple’s 25th silver wedding anniversary.

This year, however, Globe Telecom, Inc. is marking its 82nd anniversary by focusing the spotlight on its valued subscribers. Unknown to many, the company actually started out in 1928 with the Globe McKay telefax. It was only 16 years ago that they began offering mobile phone services.

On Oct. 6, the company held a big party for 1,700 of their pioneer clients or those who have been Globe subscribers since 1994.

Over a thousand guests attended the party at the NBC Tent at The Fort. Food was plentiful and music played through the night but what made the event for the "0917 Crowd" extra special was the raffling off of 200 limited edition Blackberry Bold 9700 handsets.

D’Artagnan "Bunny" M. Aguilar, Globe’s head of communication channels (consumer marketing) told reporters recently that when Blackberry manufacturers Research in Motion (RIM) informed them that they had set aside 200 of the pearlized white units, Globe officials decided to raffle the units off to their pioneer subscribers instead of selling them.

"The directive of our company president is to be more ‘customer-centric’ and while we admit there have been some hiccups along the way, we’re getting there," Mr. Aguilar said.

To this end, Globe has been introducing promos that cater to all budgets like the first selection of customizable, freebie-enriched postpaid plans, My SuperPlan and My Fully Loaded Plan. They even have a VIP membership promo for prepaid subscribers.

"Mobile phone users are more ‘promiscuous’ now when it comes to their service provider. They are aware of ongoing promos and freely move around and latch on to whatever catches their eye," Mr. Aguilar said.

To keep their over 24 million subscribers loyal and happy, Globe also plans to come up with more value-added services in the future including treats like the party held last month. "Our customers are our reason for being, and forging lasting relationships with them is important to us. Everything we do is intended to delight them and to assure them that they made the right choice when they picked Globe," said Jay Beltran, Globe’s head of loyalty and customer relationship marketing.


http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=20671

Pinoy mobile consumers on the rise -Nielsen, McCann studies :)

GMANews.TV -
Saturday, November 6, 2010

Filipinos are increasingly turning to their mobile phones for content consumption and sharing, based on the results of two independent studies.

According to the Nielsen Media Index, in 2008, a survey of Filipinos 10 years old and above across all economic classes in urban areas indicated that the most used cellphone features were: SMS/TEXT Ringtone/ Logo/ Download MMS Camera Radio A follow-up survey in the second quarter of 2010 showed that SMS/TEXT continued to be the top mobile feature, but revealed a surprising shift in secondary preferences: SMS/TEXT Camera Radio MMS MP3 player When asked about the significance of these new results, Nielsen Media (Philippines) executive director Jay G. Bautista attributed the shift to the youth-driven emergence of the mobile phone as an all-around media consumption device:

"We see a shift to a more 'entertainment'-oriented use of mobile phones apart from communication, particularly among the youth, whose appetite for music and social networking continues to increase," Bautista explained, noting that 50 percent of mobile phone users surveyed were below 29 years old.

"It seems that ringtones and logos are no longer 'fashionable', plus they eat up on one’s prepaid load, which is being prioritized for SMS," he said about the disappearance of downloads from the list.

Bautista attributed the decline in MMS —which was once thought to be the next big thing in mobile communications after SMS— to the rise of social media, which are becoming increasingly easier to access via mobile phone.

"Offhand, I think instead of MMS, which is a one-to-one sharing, mobile phone users would rather upload their photos or videos to their (preferred) social network to enable more people to have access and have a more interactive engagement. Plus, its free compared to the cost of sending MMS," Bautista said.

These observations are bolstered by similar findings in a separate study by Universal McCann.

In its latest UM Wave5 study on the impact of social media in the marketplace, the company noted that 30 percent of active Filipino internet users aged 16 to 54 now access the Internet through their mobile devices. Of these, 52 percent are aged 15 to 24.

Moreover, Filipinos are avid content creators on social media more than just passive consumers. According to the Wave5 study, over the past year alone, usage of microblogging services like Twitter shot up from 30 percent to 50 percent of all respondents in the country. -GMANews.TV

Ako nga eh........

5 times a day kung mag GROUP MESSAGE. Quotes plus message sent to 25 people na friends ko.

Di pa kasale diyan yung SMS lalo na pag napapasarap ang usapan. Di talaga sayan yung unlimited ko. hahaha......

Palagian narin akong nag-uupload ng kanta sa phone pero sa internet lang tas nilalagay sa memory card ng phone.

Pinoy mobile consumers on the rise -Nielsen, McCann studies :)

GMANews.TV -
Saturday, November 6, 2010

Filipinos are increasingly turning to their mobile phones for content consumption and sharing, based on the results of two independent studies.

According to the Nielsen Media Index, in 2008, a survey of Filipinos 10 years old and above across all economic classes in urban areas indicated that the most used cellphone features were: SMS/TEXT Ringtone/ Logo/ Download MMS Camera Radio A follow-up survey in the second quarter of 2010 showed that SMS/TEXT continued to be the top mobile feature, but revealed a surprising shift in secondary preferences: SMS/TEXT Camera Radio MMS MP3 player When asked about the significance of these new results, Nielsen Media (Philippines) executive director Jay G. Bautista attributed the shift to the youth-driven emergence of the mobile phone as an all-around media consumption device:

"We see a shift to a more 'entertainment'-oriented use of mobile phones apart from communication, particularly among the youth, whose appetite for music and social networking continues to increase," Bautista explained, noting that 50 percent of mobile phone users surveyed were below 29 years old.

"It seems that ringtones and logos are no longer 'fashionable', plus they eat up on one’s prepaid load, which is being prioritized for SMS," he said about the disappearance of downloads from the list.

Bautista attributed the decline in MMS —which was once thought to be the next big thing in mobile communications after SMS— to the rise of social media, which are becoming increasingly easier to access via mobile phone.

"Offhand, I think instead of MMS, which is a one-to-one sharing, mobile phone users would rather upload their photos or videos to their (preferred) social network to enable more people to have access and have a more interactive engagement. Plus, its free compared to the cost of sending MMS," Bautista said.

These observations are bolstered by similar findings in a separate study by Universal McCann.

In its latest UM Wave5 study on the impact of social media in the marketplace, the company noted that 30 percent of active Filipino internet users aged 16 to 54 now access the Internet through their mobile devices. Of these, 52 percent are aged 15 to 24.

Moreover, Filipinos are avid content creators on social media more than just passive consumers. According to the Wave5 study, over the past year alone, usage of microblogging services like Twitter shot up from 30 percent to 50 percent of all respondents in the country. -GMANews.TV

MMS is on its way out. It's easier to send your update or photo to Twitter or Facebook using a smartphone, plus it's cheaper. Besides, the MMS market is only good for those whose phones have the capability to view such messages. Otherwise, the telco will just point you to a website where you could view the MMS.

How telcos are trying to recoup the decline in revenues is to push unlimited mobile surfing promos to the tune of P1,200-1,500, or P50 on a daily basis. That's why they have a number of promos giving away BlackBerrys and Nokia N8s for lower than usual postpaid plans (P999 and P2000). The cost of the phone is also subsidized by the revenue from non-voice applications.

Sooner we'll start seeing the rise of location based services (e.g. promo when checking in using FourSquare).

Telcos continue battle for postpaid supremacy
Sunday, 07 November 2010 10:47 Lenie Lectura

SUN Cellular, the mobile brand of listed phone firm Digitel, may have claimed the top spot in cellular postpaid subscriber count in the third quarter but Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. said revenues derived from cellular usage are more important than subscriber numbers.

Third-quarter numbers show that Sun Cellular registered more than a million postpaid subscriptions, Globe with over 980,000 and Smart with more than 400,000.

“The latest figures clearly show that Sun Cellular is No. 1 in terms of number of postpaid subscribers. Last September, Sun exceeded the 1-million mark for postpaid, and is growing. This was the first time ever that a local carrier attained this magic number,” said Sun Cellular senior vice president William Pamintuan.

The Gokongwei-controlled company started commercial operations in 2003. It pioneered unlimited call and text messaging services and rivals followed suit. Pamintuan said Sun Cellular’s lead in the postpaid market is sustainable since the company registers seven out of every 10 new postpaid subscribers. Its prepaid subscribers number more than 15 million.

“There are three reasons for this—we offer at the very least the same quality service as other carriers since we have the latest network infrastructure, and nationwide coverage; subscribers can save on average 50 percent of their costs; and Sun offers true unlimited call and text,” added Pamintuan.

Sun’s “unli” service offering has been in the market since 2004. It is a permanent product where a subscriber gets a free phone, and can call and text the whole day while paying only P350 per month.

While Smart admitted it was “bothered” that Sun has topped the list for the most number of postpaid subscriptions, it is proud to say that overall subscriber numbers of the cellular unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) showed that it’s still leading the pack.

“Our market share for the total wireless market is 59 percent, that’s why we are No. 1,” said PLDT and Smart president Napoleon Nazareno.

The PLDT group’s total subscriber base at end-September grew to 44.1 million, a 13-percent growth year-on-year. Smart added 2.8 million subscribers for the period, as compared with 3.9 million in 2009.

He said revenue derived from cellular usage is an important factor to gauging the performance of a mobile network operator. “It measures how well you are doing,” said Nazareno, who gave conservative estimates that the PLDT group will close the year with 45 million wireless subscribers.

Meanwhile, Globe’s postpaid numbers were up 16 percent year-on-year. Net postpaid subscriber additions hit a seven-year high, with net additions of more than 70,000 in the July to September period alone, surpassing full-year net additions in 2009.

Postpaid subscribers contributed over 27 percent of the total mobile revenues. The growth is attributed to the company’s innovative postpaid plan offers My Fully Loaded Plan and My Super Plan, more compelling loyalty programs, robust partnerships with two of the world’s most coveted device brands, BlackBerry and Apple, and its revolutionary flagship store in Greenbelt 4 in Makati which continues to draw in customers and postpaid activations since its launch last June.

“How do you count and when do you say you’re No.1? To us, the real reckoning is revenue. What matters to us is the amount of revenue we take in from postpaid subscription,” said Globe president Ernest Cu.

At end September, the company’s subscriber base reached 25.4 million, up 10 percent from last year’s 23.1 million, with year-to-date total net additions of 2.2 million.

Globe said it continues to add more subscribers, posting double-digit growth in its mobile subscriber base on the back of attractive offers for both the prepaid and postpaid segments.

“You have to look at the momentum, the revenue share, the quality of the plans, quality of the subscribers. To me that’s being No.1,” said Cu, who added that Globe may post 26 million subscribers by the end of the year.

“Our thrust toward customer centricity is gaining momentum, as shown by strong market interest in our customizable ‘My Super Plan’ and ‘My Fully Loaded Plan’ offers,” added Cu. Postpaid subscription account for about 2 percent to 3 percent of the phone company’s total subscriber base.

To this, Sun Cellular replies that “others claim they are No. 1 in terms of revenues. Sun gives back to its subscribers in terms of huge savings in their communications costs,” said Pamintuan.

Sun Cellular is no different from its sister company, Cebu Pacific, which offers lower fares and brand-new aircraft, and transports its passengers to their destination on time; or gohotels which offers rooms at rates as low as P388 per day. “We deliver the same quality products and services at best prices,” added the Digitel official.

Lenie Lectura

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/3407-telcos-continue-battle-for-postpaid-supremacy

The cellphone market is already saturated.

The whizkid and head of the PLDT-Smart group admitted it.

The cellphone market is already saturated.

The whizkid and head of the PLDT-Smart group admitted it.

Yeah, I don't believe their 80plus % penetration rate. What, even kids under 7 years old have their own individual phones?

What is important to them now is to really know who their subscribers are, the real living ones, and not the ones where they base on the recycled numbers or how many lines a single individual has. They can then try to increase their ARPU (average revenue per user), since that is one of the best measures of success for telcos. Not subscribers. Especially so when over 90% of the market are prepaid, they don't even know who is the person behind the phone number.

Family jewels (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=628396&publicationSubCategoryId=64)

Family jewels
FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno (The Philippine Star) Updated November 09, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (10)

The local telecoms sector is watching with great interest the complex power plays unfolding in a major Chinese technology supplier. The outcome of the power play in progress will affect major decision about the technologies we will use and the products we will procure.

The company under close observation is Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. It is a major global telecommunications supplier.

Recall that during the height of the national broadband controversy a few years ago, this company was mentioned as one of the partners of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI). The holding company was set up by Joey de Venecia, competing with the ZTE-led consortium that figured in the broadband controversy.

AHI was excluded from the ill-fated project because it could not prove sufficient financial capacity and show a sufficient track record. Authorities in the Netherlands even issued a statement denying there was any Dutch investment in this company.

Huawei itself has run into a number of controversies through the years. Just last July, Motorola filed a suit against Huawei, alleging theft of trade secrets. Back in 2003, Cisco Systems also sued the Chinese firm for copying the source codes of its mobile phone operating system.

The firm has a local subsidiary, Huawei Technologies Philippines Inc. Although the firm maintains an office at the PBCom Tower in Makati, we know little about the businesses it might be engaged in.

Huawei made business news recently when its chairwoman, Sun Yafang, was supposed to have been offered somewhere between Rmb 900,000 to Rmb 1.4B for her stake in the company. The price per share she is now being offered is rattling stock markets in the region.

That is a staggering offer, especially considering that it was made for the sole purpose of getting Sun Yafang out of the company. This is surely more than the proverbial Golden Parachute.

Sun Yafang is, to be sure, a woman of substance. It is likely she might decline the generous offer.

As chair, Sun led Huawei Technologies out of difficult financial straits into the dominant position it now enjoys in an extremely competitive industry. As recognition for her achievements, Sun is listed in the Forbes Power Women for 2010 — the only Chinese woman in that impressive list.

Sun took over as chair of Huawei Technologies in 1998. Since then, there has been a constant battle between her and the company’s founder Ren Zhenfei.

By effectively directing policy in this mammoth corporation, Sun had effectively sidelined Ren. For his part, Ren tried with little success to curtail Sun’s authority as much as possible.

Over the past few years, the elder Ren has been trying to promote his own son’s position within the corporation. He tried to put his son, Ren Pin, onto the powerful executive management team. That effort was frustrated by a majority of the members of this decision-making team.

Industry insiders see the elder Ren’s move to oust Sun Yafang from the corporation as ultimately aimed at installing the younger Ren in her place. Should Sun yield to the temptation of cashing in her shares for Ren’s very generous offer, the father-and-son tandem will regain complete control of the corporation.

Such an outcome might be good for the Ren family’s interest in consolidating their control over an extremely profitable corporation. But it will also likely undermine market confidence in the corporation’s quality of leadership. Remember that once before, Ren Zhenfei nearly ran the company to the ground.

The family’s gain will be the corporation’s loss. Should the battle for control of Huawei continue inconclusively or should an inferior management team control it, the global telecoms industry could begin looking at other technology suppliers for their future needs. Huawei’s product line is under strong challenge from new Android operating systems for mobile phones.

The outcome of the telenovela unfolding in the headquarters of Huawei could influence the technology trends of our local telecoms industry and the products our consumers use.

This sort of corporate power struggle is by no means unique. In fact, it is commonplace among large corporations that used to be entirely family-owned.

Very often, the success of traditional family ownership to reassert control over what has become a modern enterprise comes at the cost of diminishing the quality of corporate governance. Over the long run, as the corporation suffers from the diminished management quality, the family’s victory ends up hollow. Very often, they succeed in reestablishing family control only at the price of subverting the viability of the enterprise. The trophy transforms from asset to liability.

The obvious peril of striking down professional management to favor family control never dissuades the patrimonial impulse, especially among Asian companies. Wealthy families take great pride in retaining control over the management of companies they established. It matters little to them that cutting out professional managers could irreparably damage a company’s viability.

We could replace the names of the main players in the Huawei drama and replace the name of the corporation in question with Filipino ones. The story will likely remain the same. The graveyard of failed corporations abounds with enterprises that were managed badly because family control was accorded greater importance over professional management.

When family names prevail over the standards of professional merit, the consequences are often dire. This is true not just of private corporations. It is true of the management of nations just as well.

I wish they would make me happy as I had been a loyal subscriber since 1998.....


Globe intent on keeping subscribers happy

ALTHOUGH we should always be grateful for each birthday or anniversary, we usually celebrate milestone years: a child’s first and seventh birthdays, a young woman’s debut at 18 or a couple’s 25th silver wedding anniversary.

This year, however, Globe Telecom, Inc. is marking its 82nd anniversary by focusing the spotlight on its valued subscribers. Unknown to many, the company actually started out in 1928 with the Globe McKay telefax. It was only 16 years ago that they began offering mobile phone services.

On Oct. 6, the company held a big party for 1,700 of their pioneer clients or those who have been Globe subscribers since 1994.

Over a thousand guests attended the party at the NBC Tent at The Fort. Food was plentiful and music played through the night but what made the event for the "0917 Crowd" extra special was the raffling off of 200 limited edition Blackberry Bold 9700 handsets.

D’Artagnan "Bunny" M. Aguilar, Globe’s head of communication channels (consumer marketing) told reporters recently that when Blackberry manufacturers Research in Motion (RIM) informed them that they had set aside 200 of the pearlized white units, Globe officials decided to raffle the units off to their pioneer subscribers instead of selling them.

"The directive of our company president is to be more ‘customer-centric’ and while we admit there have been some hiccups along the way, we’re getting there," Mr. Aguilar said.

To this end, Globe has been introducing promos that cater to all budgets like the first selection of customizable, freebie-enriched postpaid plans, My SuperPlan and My Fully Loaded Plan. They even have a VIP membership promo for prepaid subscribers.

"Mobile phone users are more ‘promiscuous’ now when it comes to their service provider. They are aware of ongoing promos and freely move around and latch on to whatever catches their eye," Mr. Aguilar said.

To keep their over 24 million subscribers loyal and happy, Globe also plans to come up with more value-added services in the future including treats like the party held last month. "Our customers are our reason for being, and forging lasting relationships with them is important to us. Everything we do is intended to delight them and to assure them that they made the right choice when they picked Globe," said Jay Beltran, Globe’s head of loyalty and customer relationship marketing.


http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=20671

Globe is generous nowadays. For the renewal of my Plan 1800, they offered me several choices:
1. Trip to Macau or HK
2. El Nido Palawan or Cebu trip
3. I Phone 3G 8G

I have been a loyal customer since 2001.

I chose no. 3. It is really highly competitive.

hint: when you renew, tell them that you're going to close the account and is reconsidering Smart or Sun Cell....I'm sure the Customer Service will entice you to stay. :)

NT Prime: I think the high penetration rate is also due to multiple accounts for one user.

Globe Customer Lounge at Greenbelt 4 is spacious and better.
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/RonnieR_2008/P1020278.jpg

http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/RonnieR_2008/P1020279.jpg

Globe is generous nowadays. For the renewal of my Plan 1800, they offered me several choices:
1. Trip to Macau or HK
2. El Nido Palawan or Cebu trip
3. I Phone 3G 8G

I have been a loyal customer since 2001.

I chose no. 3. It is really highly competitive.

hint: when you renew, tell them that you're going to close the account and is reconsidering Smart or Sun Cell....I'm sure the Customer Service will entice you to stay. :)

NT Prime: I think the high penetration rate is also due to multiple accounts for one user.

Globe Customer Lounge at Greenbelt 4 is spacious and better.
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/RonnieR_2008/P1020278.jpg

http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/RonnieR_2008/P1020279.jpg

Greenbelt 4 Globe Center is where I usually pay and complain about my subscriptions. I just recently got a couple of BlackBerrys from there.

I don't like the way telcos use their terms because it can be misleading to ordinary lay people. E.g. Mobile phone penetration rate is a term generally used to describe the number of active mobile phone numbers (usually as a percentage) within a specific population.

So for people like me with 5 accounts with one provider, the numbers should really show what percentage of Filipinos use a phone, not how many active phones divided by the total population. If we assume most subscribers have 2 or more lines (whether postpaid or prepaid), then the numbers would be more realistic (e.g. 40 million people are regular users of cellular mobile phone service).

I myself have been a loyal customer since 1995 (missed out to be one of the folks invited by Globe to their party last month ... that list comprised some 1700+ postpaid subscribers since 1994), although there was a year I completely went out without any cellphone service. I even tried Piltel's CDMA line in the late 90s (reception and clarity was far better than anything back then), but CDMA never took off in the country.

Globe has been inconsistent with its loyal subscribers...I've gotten an iPhone 3GS for free last year, but they don't value my lower plan subscriptions that it's better to cancel the account and apply for a new plan if you want to get a better phone deal. I've done that like at least 3 times in the past, they still are clueless because their CRM is not sophisticated enough.

Greenbelt 4 Globe Center is where I usually pay and complain about my subscriptions. I just recently got a couple of BlackBerrys from there.

I don't like the way telcos use their terms because it can be misleading to ordinary lay people. E.g. Mobile phone penetration rate is a term generally used to describe the number of active mobile phone numbers (usually as a percentage) within a specific population.

So for people like me with 5 accounts with one provider, the numbers should really show what percentage of Filipinos use a phone, not how many active phones divided by the total population. If we assume most subscribers have 2 or more lines (whether postpaid or prepaid), then the numbers would be more realistic (e.g. 40 million people are regular users of cellular mobile phone service).

I myself have been a loyal customer since 1995 (missed out to be one of the folks invited by Globe to their party last month ... that list comprised some 1700+ postpaid subscribers since 1994), although there was a year I completely went out without any cellphone service. I even tried Piltel's CDMA line in the late 90s (reception and clarity was far better than anything back then), but CDMA never took off in the country.

Globe has been inconsistent with its loyal subscribers...I've gotten an iPhone 3GS for free last year, but they don't value my lower plan subscriptions that it's better to cancel the account and apply for a new plan if you want to get a better phone deal. I've done that like at least 3 times in the past, they still are clueless because their CRM is not sophisticated enough.

On the penetration rate, that's the way it is computed globally. You may even wonder why SG or HK's penetration rates are more than 100%.

On the penetration rate, that's the way it is computed globally. You may even wonder why SG or HK's penetration rates are more than 100%.

Agree. Although it's a sly way of propping up one's image in front of many consumers who don't even know what penetration rate really means.

Just because some countries have penetration rates of 100% or more doesn't automatically mean every single individual uses a phone. We can have families who don't even have communications access so there's no subscribership there.

I prefer them to use ARPU (average revenue per user) as a more accurate way of marketing their wide usage (not coverage or penetration rate). That way you know that people are indeed using their cellphones regularly, and not buying prepaid SIM cards, using them for the value of the load within days, and then buying another SIM card. This is the case of foreigners or visitors to the Philippines who use prepaid SIM cards disposable-style. That adds to the penetration rate, even though the users are not resident Filipinos.

penetration:D

hmmmm.




I am happier now, my wireless fidelity project in a remote village in the province is working great!

penetration:D

hmmmm.




I am happier now, my wireless fidelity project in a remote village in the province is working great!

:) mag post ka palagi. I like your wit.


First, the 4G Wi-Tribe, now, it's Globe's 4G.


Globe Telecom’s 4G ready for launch in PH

By Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:22:00 11/11/2010

Filed Under: Telecommunications Services, Internet, mobile phones

MANILA, Philippines—Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. plans to launch in the next few years the “real 4G” technology in the Philippines, promising to offer wireless broadband Internet connection speeds never seen before in the country.
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20101111-302708/Globe-Telecoms-4G-ready-for-launch-in-PH

Globe pilots LTE tech for mobile broadband
By EMMIE V. ABADILLA
November 13, 2010, 8:10pm

MANILA, Philippines – After successful laboratory and field testing, Globe Telecom plans to use Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology as it explores 4G next generation mobile communications for the Philippine market.

LTE is a high-performance air interface for cellular mobile technology.

After 2G and 3G, LTE is the next frontier in radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks. It addresses the demand for higher data rates and increased quality of service and enables users to experience the fastest mobile broadband service up to 100 MBPS.

However, LTE will not only make existing mobile phone applications run faster but will pave the way for new functions previously available only on a wired internet connection. With LTE, multimedia content and applications would be available anytime, anywhere.

Globe began the trial of LTE technology early this year in partnership with NEC Corporation. Following the lab tests in May at the Globe 3G LTE test bed at the Valero Technopark in Makati, Globe and NEC conducted field trials in Quezon City as part of Phase 1 of this project.

The Phase 1 field trial verified a variety of LTE functions such as quality of service, latency and hand-over within urban areas were tested as these are required for commercial use of the technology. The trial achieved up to 60Mbps downlink data throughput rate at 10MHz bandwidth.

“Globe continuously monitors technology developments around the world that will improve the quality of experience and introduce new services of value for our customers,” explained Emmanuel R. Estrada, Network Technologies Strategy Head of Globe Telecom. “As mobile broadband grows and more subscribers clamor for faster and higher bandwidths, LTE will help us meet demand and improve service.”

As of end September 2010, the broadband subscriber base of Globe grew by 95% to reach 1,006,460, nearly double the 517,355 broadband subscribers reported in the same period last year.

As a pioneer in information and communications technologies, Globe is bent on deploying future technologies for use of Filipino customers such as LTE. However, it will take about six to nine months of trials before the telco can determine the best strategy for its local adoption.

The LTE trial of Globe is in conjunction with the Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) Group, one of the company’s principals, who has spearheaded efforts for regional and coordinated LTE trials across affiliates in Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The results of the trials, which will be shared among SingTel's wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia, Optus, and other SingTel associates, such as Telkomsel in Indonesia, AIS in Thailand, Bharti Airtel in India, PBTL in Bangladesh, and Warid in Pakistan, will help determine the best strategy for its adoption in their respective local markets.

The trials will also lay the groundwork to establish a regionally-compatible LTE network to facilitate growth in the mobile broadband business for the SingTel Group. This high-speed network will also allow the Group to deploy new services across the region quickly, giving customers faster access to the widest selection of mobile service offerings in these markets.

Several worldwide carriers like Verizon and AT&T in the United States are beginning to prepare their networks for LTE adoption and global telecom industry analysts see demand for LTE connections soaring once the technology is commercially available.


http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/287457/globe-pilots-lte-tech-mobile-broadband

Sun says ‘unli’ offerings on even during holidays
Sunday, 14 November 2010 10:55 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


SUN Cellular, the mobile brand of listed phone firm Digitel, is not going to stop any of its unlimited price offerings during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“In our six years of offering unlimited services in the market, never did we call for a “time-out” in providing unlimited call and text services. Be it an ordinary day, or a special season like Christmas and New Year when just about everyone wants to send text greetings to their loved ones and friends, Sun Cellular continues to provide reliable unlimited call and text services,” said William Pamintuan, senior vice president of Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., Sun Cellular’s parent company.

Pamintuan pointed out that Sun Cellular’s unlimited offering is a service not a promo, whether it is for a postpaid or prepaid account. He said Sun Cellular’s network was built to handle huge SMS (short message service) and voice traffic whether via unlimited or regular service offerings. 

“We can do this because our network is built to offer unlimited service. Being a late entrant in the mobile telecommunications industry, we have been able to take advantage of newer and better technologies,” said Pamintuan.

Sun Cellular started commercial operations in 2003. It pioneered unlimited call and text messaging services and rivals followed suit.

Its “unli” service offering has been in the market since 2004. It is a permanent product where a subscriber gets a free phone, and can call and text the whole day while paying only P350 per month. It even gets lower with a group plan 999 subscription, which offers unlimited call and text for one month for P333 each for all the three lines.

Sun Cellular also recognizes the need of Filipinos to stay in touch, and send holiday greetings at the lowest cost possible. “We understand that since the advent of GSM phones, text message has become one of the most affordable form of Christmas greeting for the Filipino, and we’re not about to take that away from our subscribers,” added Pamintuan. 

Smart Communications Inc. has not decided yet if it will also suspend unli promos just like it did last year. Smart handles a billion text messages daily.

In 2009, the National Telecommunications Commission approved the telcos’ request to suspend text and voice promos temporarily from December 23 to 25 and from December 30 to January 1.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/3681-sun-says-unli-offerings-on-even-during-holidays

Globe Telecom launches PHL’s first mobile ads platform

Monday, 15 November 2010 00:00
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Globe Telecom and its partner, Out There Media, mark a first in the Philippine advertising industry with the launch of the first mobile advertising platform in the Philippines. The launch was capped by a workshop for the country’s top advertisers on how to harness the power and capabilities of mobile advertising to reach target audiences.

Globe, led by its president and Chief Executive Officer Ernest Cu (photo: second from left) and Minette Navarrete, head of the New Business Group, signed a contract with global mobile advertising leader Out There Media, represented by its Chief Executive Officer Kerstin Trikalitis and Fabrizio Caruso, vice president for Business Development & general manager for Asia-Pacific, to handle all sales, business development and operations support for the m-ads service of Globe Telecom.

The mobile advertising service, titled “My Rewards, My Globe Plus,” is a next-generation Permission-Based Mobile Advertising service for opt-in customers. It is the only mobile advertising program of its kind in the Philippines. Globe subscribers will be able to choose to receive mobile ads they wish to receive from their preferred categories, be it fashion or food, from brands, products or services they would want to try. They will also give permission (opt-in) to receive advertising on their mobile phones that is tailored to their preferences, interests and needs. In exchange for opting to receive mobile ads, subscribers can earn points redeemable against discounts and free gifts from the loyalty program for all of its subscribers.
TECH TIMES


http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/tech-times/32112-globe-telecom-launches-phls-first-mobile-ads-platform

Facebook unleashes Messages :)

Dylan Bushell-Embling | November 16, 2010
telecomasia.net

Facebook's new integrated messaging system has some pundits suggesting it could irrevocably change email, despite CEO Mark Zuckerberg's insistence that the service is “not an email killer.”

The company yesterday unveiled its upcoming Messages service, which allows both senders and receivers to decide which format - including SMS, IM, or email - to view conversations in.

The company is offering @facebook.com email addresses to every Facebook user which wants one. But “Messages is not email,” Facebook engineer Joel Seligstein said. “There are no subject lines, no cc, no bcc, and you can send a message by hitting the Enter key.”

The service has a “social inbox” which collates messages by friend accounts, and can be configured to bounce any emails not received from friends.

Seligstein said Messages will be rolled out to all Facebook users over the next few months.

Pre-release reports suggested that the Messaging service, codenamed Project Titan, was viewed internally as a challenge to webmail services such as Google's Gmail. But announcing the project, Zuckerberg said he didn't expect people to shut down their email accounts anytime soon.

“This is not an email killer. This is a messaging system that includes email as a part of it,” he told reporters.

Despite Zuckerberg’s comments, some commentators have suggested that the arrival of Messages will impact directly on email providers.

It will change the way users think about email, and force webmail providers to continue the “uphill climb” of incorporating social features into their service, PC World's Lance Ulanoff predicted. Google's previous attempt to do so, with Google Buzz, has so far not been successful.

Ovum principal analyst Eden Zoller said the service's impact will depend on how it is sold. “If Facebook positions this as a full web email service it will put Google, Microsoft and Yahoo on the defensive,” she said.

“It should also give telcos a lot to think about as Facebook is becoming an increasingly rich communication platform.”
MarketWatch suggested that the service could harm Yahoo and AOL the most, as Gmail has a richer feature-set and Microsoft, which runs Hotmail, has a partnership with Facebook.
Other pundits rejected suggestions the service could ultimately kill off email, as the technology has fended off multiple challengers since its inception in the 1970s. It has also been suggested that the security implications of an open messaging format could scare off older users.

In an ironic twist, Google's Gmail website reportedly went down briefly yesterday, just hours after the Messages service was announced.

Smart launches Samsung Tablet PC here
By EMMIE V. ABADILLA
November 16, 2010, 6:05pm

MANILA, Philippines – Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) now offers the popular tablet computer Samsung Galaxy Tab, the first wireless service provider to do so in the Philippine market.

“With the advent of this new range of portable connectivity and productivity devices, we want Filipinos to experience the tablet computer wave with the rest of the world,” announced Orlando B. Vea, Smart’s Chief Wireless Advisor.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch touch-screen compact Android-based tablet computer that also works as a mobile phone, comes free with a Smart Gold Unlimited Data Plan 3000 and up.

Smart Gold’s Unlimited Data Plan offer is also available in Plans 1500, 2000 and 4000, perfect for the Galaxy Tab’s features that require internet connectivity, at the same time allowing subscribers to make voice calls and send SMS.

“We also launched Smart Golds Unlimited Data plans in time for the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab,” added Danilo Mojica, head of Smart’s Wireless Consumer Division. “Subscribers will maximize the function and features of the Galaxy Tab when powered by our unlimited internet connectivity.

There’s a world of information and services out there they can access at work, at home and on the move.”

The Samsung Galaxy Tab can run applications accessible or downloadable through the net. Aside from calling, SMS and mobile browsing functions, subscribers can use the gadget for various applications ranging from communication, information and productivity to entertainment.

The tablet PC comes with two cameras, one at the back for taking 3MP photos and one in front for video calling or conferencing. In addition to enabling internet access either via cellular network or Wi-Fi, it has personal information management functions - calendar, phonebook, e-mail as well as navigation programs like maps and GPS plus office document processing tools. With its USB mass storage compatibility, transferring of files to the device is made simpler and faster.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/287943/

Digitel unit sets sights on VisMin expansion
Wednesday, 24 November 2010 19:09 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


THE wireless landline service of listed phone firm Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) is setting its sights on expanding to Visayas and Mindanao (VisMin) to provide reliable and affordable unlimited landline service in the area.

Once completed, the VisMin transmission network will be linked to Digitel’s Luzon transmission facility thereby creating an extensive nationwide communication network.

Suntel, Digitel’s wireless landline brand, is currently present in Metro Manila and the whole Luzon.

Digitel legal head William Pamintuan said the launch of Suntel wireless landline service in VisMin is going to happen in the first quarter of 2011. “We are positive we could duplicate the success we have in Luzon to the provinces down south.” Pamintuan said. “We want those in the Visayas and Mindanao to experience the convenience of unlimited landline service that we have been providing our subscribers in Metro Manila, and Luzon.”

Suntel Wireless Landline will work anywhere there is Sun Cellular coverage. “We will be using Sun Cellular’s nearly 7,000 cell sites all over the country to provide wireless landline services. What we are working on closely though is establishing local interconnection with other telecom companies with presence in the Visayas and Mindanao to ensure seamless and practical communication services for our subscribers,” he added.

Local interconnection between two telecom firms allows a landline subscriber of one telco to make a call to a subscriber of another within the same province without having to pay long-distance rates.

Pamintuan said Digitel had already established an interconnection agreement with Globe Telecom in Cebu, and then would start the same process in Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and in General Santos City. Digitel is also currently negotiating with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. for interconnection in the said areas.

Suntel Wireless Landline was launched in Luzon in 2008 and Metro Manila in 2009. It offers subscribers wireless mobility within their specific areas or province at the affordable cost of a landline connection.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/4144-digitel-unit-sets-sights-on-vismin-expansion

NTC sets rules for broadband providers
Thursday, 25 November 2010 18:06 Lenie Lectura / Reporter

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) wants broadband service providers to price their Internet service offerings based on service reliability and speed connection.

The agency also wants the companies to publicly reveal the minimum Internet connection speed and service reliability.

This plan is meant to address subscribers’ complaints on poor quality and very low speed as oppose to the providers’ advertised connection speed.

“Broadband service providers shall specify the minimum broadband connection speed and service reliability and the service rates in their offers to consumers in their advertisements, flyers, brochures and service agreements and service legal agreements.

The minimum service reliability shall be 80 percent,” stated the draft NTC memorandum order.  

Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom Inc. and Digital Mobile Philippines Inc. met with NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba recently to discuss the proposed measure. Representatives of the phone firms said the consultation is ongoing. They are preparing for the submission of their respective position papers.

The NTC wants to impose a minimum of 80-percent service reliability. This is measured over a period of one month and calculated as hours used in a day minus the hours used below minimum connection speed in a day divided by the number of hours used in a day.

The service offers must also specify the service rates for a minimum broadband connection speed and the service reliability. As such, only P900 a month should be paid for by a consumer who is getting 512 kilobytes per second (Kbps) minimum connection speed and 80-percent service reliability; P1,000 a month for 512 Kbps minimum connection speed and 85-percent service reliability, and so on.  

Service providers offering committed information rate will also be asked to comply with NTC memorandum circular 12-19-2004 for the service performance standards for Internet access services and wired telecommunication services which states that the bandwidth for Internet access is up to 98.5 percent.

For dial-up access, the telcos are mandated to deliver at least 80 percent of committed information status, while for leased line access, 99 percent.

If the draft order is approved, the NTC will file administrative cases against broadband service providers found not compliant with the rules.

The agency has been swamped by complaints from consumers. Of the 622 complaints lodged against the phone companies in the first nine months of the year, more than half are related to poor Internet connections.

Other consumer complaints ranged from erroneous billing to poor service, vanishing prepaid load credits, e-load issues and misleading promos.

NTC had observed that the service providers are offering broadband connections specifying only the maximum speed. “Customers have the right to be informed of the minimum connection speed [as well],” the draft order stated.

The draft order, entitled “Minimum Speed of Broadband Connection” is meant to protect the rights of the broadband users.

The projected broadband subscribers is expected to grow [further] in the next two to three years, said the NTC.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/4188-ntc-sets-rules-for-broadband-providers

Government seeks better broadband services in PH

by Jeremiah F. de Guzman

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology has called for a more regulated broadband service in the country to protect consumers from a highly congested network.

“Enough for the investors of telecommunications technology to make money so they can expand some more and improve their services,” CICT chairman Ivan Uy told reporters during the 13th HP-Intel Synergy held in Palawan over the weekend.

“But [the telecom firms] have to balance it with the concern and the interest of the public in terms of the level of service that we want for the money that we are paying for,” he added.

He said the CICT had urged the National Telecommunications Commission to “be proactive” in regulating telecommunication companies to improve their broadband service.

“We have to step in because the public should be protected since they are paying under a claim on the speeds,” Uy said.

The NTC recently drew up a draft circular directing service providers to “specify the minimum broadband connection speed and service reliability and the service rates in their offers to consumers, subscribers or users in their advertisements, flyers, brochures and service agreements and service legal agreements.”

Service reliability, which is measured over a period of one month and calculated as hours used in a day minus hours used below minimum connection speed in a day divided by hours used in a day, should be 80 percent, the regulator said.

“Failure on part of a broadband service provider to comply with the order, the [NTC] shall file appropriate administrative case against broadband service provider,” the NTC said.


http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideBusiness.htm?f=/2010/november/29/business5.isx&d=2010/november/29

Mobile phone firms sales seen to dive by next year

The Daily Tribune
11/30/2010

Revenues of local telecommunication firms are expected to dip next year due to slowing mobile phone subscribers growth, according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Edgardo Cabarios, head of NTC’s common carrier and authorization department, said mobile phone subscribers were likely to grow single digit next year due to “market saturation.”

Cabarios projected that mobile phone subscribers will grow between 10 percent and 11 percent this year.

The country’s total mobile phone subscribers base stood at 84.5 million as of end-September this year, 44.1 million of which were cornered by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT); 25.2 million by Globe Telecom; and more than 15 million by Sun Cellular.

The country’s cellular phone subscribers hit 77.04 million last year, up 13.14 percent from the 68.09 million a year before.

An industry research firm, Frost & Sullivan earlier said that the country’s mobile phone penetration rate reached 96 percent and expected to hit 126 percent by 2015 .

Despite the maturity of the telecom market, Cabarios said there was still growth from the broadband services.

The NTC official said broadband subscriber was expected to register three-digit growth in the next two to three years.

The Daily Tribune

Globe eyes text broadcast service to help small firms

11/30/2010

Mobile phone giant Globe Telecom is helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and companies connect to their customers, suppliers, franchises and employees more efficiently through an easy-to-use text broadcast service.

Globe provides TxtConnect for businesses that require a fast and instant means of communication but are managing expenses.

Offered through Globe Business, TxtConnect enables SMEs and companies to transmit high volume text messages to a pre-registered group of recipients, up to a thousand mobile users, in one sending. It is better than doing individual text messaging and voice call outs to targeted recipients.

As a communication solution, it fits the needs of retailers, restaurants, hotels, business process outsourcing companies and businesses engaged in distribution, education and other services, to announce promos to all customers, inform employees all at once, send important advisories such as no classes, advertise the business, and other requirements for group texting.

In addition, TxtConnect is a cost-efficient business tool as it offers reduced rates on text messaging and businesses can save costs on mobile calls, according to a Globe Telecom statement.

^^What's Globe's guarantee that not all their SME customers will not resort to SMS spamming?

Cost per sending is like ordinary text Php 1.00 or a tad cheaper and subscribers can opt in or out of receiving messages from the sender. Plus the fact that you yourself have to upload/encode the numbers. This is not a send to all sub service, heard that you have to have NTC clearance to send a message to all subscribers.

Our company uses this service and I'm the administrator for a our txtconnect portal.

Finally operational na ang DSL ng PLDT within Bayombong and Bambang bye bye Digitel next time mag-upgrade naman kasi kayo ng mga facilities nyo. Sad to say walang PLDT sa Solano dahil kaya hinaharang ng ibang provider? or malaki ang hinihingi ng mga nakaupo? Kayo na ang bahalang mag-isip basta ako I'm enjoying my 2 mbps - no lag! no disconnection! panalo talaga! Thankd PLDT!

Telcos told to reveal broadband speeds

Tuesday, 26 October 2010 00:00
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BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER

AMID rising consumer complaints, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) plans to require telecommunication companies to reveal the minimum speed of their broadband services. Gamaliel Cordoba, NTC commissioner, told reporters the gency has drafted a memorandum order on broadband speed to address the concern raised by the Department of Trade and Industry about the poor broadband service of telcos.

Data from the NTC showed that complaints lodged against telcos have reached 622 in the first nine months of the year. Of the total, more than half pertained to poor Internet connections.

Other consumer complaints ranged from erroneous billing to poor service, vanishing pre-paid load credits, e-load issues, and misleading promos.

Cordoba said the MO will require telcos to reveal to the consumers the minimum speed of their broadband services since telcos are only disclosing “up to” the maximum broadband speed.

The NTC already sent letters to Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Smart Communications Inc.,
Globe Telecom, Digital Telecommunications Phils Inc., Bayan Telecommunications Inc., and other broadband service providers seeking their position papers.

Under Memorandum Circular 19-12-04 or the Service Performance Standards for Internet Access Services and Wired Telecommunication Services, the bandwidth throughput for Internet access is up to 98.5 percent.

For dial-up access, the telcos are mandated to deliver at least 80 percent of committed information status and for leased line access, 99 percent.

To serve the rising consumer demand for broadband, Cordoba said NTC may re-allocate other frequencies to broadband access networks under its policy of technology neutrality.

“This policy is consistent with a frequency re-farming approach where telecommunications entities are allowed to implement any technology using their assigned frequencies,” the NTC chief said.

The NTC has reallocated more than 800 megahertz (MHz) of radio spectrum to broadband access networks.

NTC data showed that the country’s broadband subscribers stood at 3.6 million last year, up by 102.81 percent from 1.77 million in 2008.

The NTC projected broadband subscribers would grow by three digits in the next two to three years.



http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business-columns/30526-telcos-told-to-reveal-broadband-speeds-

Yung 1.5mbps ng Digitel 700kbps lang ibinibigay pagsapit ng 10AM until 12MN nasa 128kbps pababa na lang connection WTF

PLDT completes P2.8-billion expansion
By EMMIE V. ABADILLA
December 2, 2010, 7:56pm

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has completed a P2.8-billion expansion of its Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON), extending the reach and strengthening the resiliency of the country’s most extensive communications transmission network.

The project, which is part of the company’s DFON Resiliency Improvement Program, involved the installation of 1,300 kilometers of new terrestrial and submarine fiber optic cables to carry voice, data and video traffic in Bicol and the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

“Now we can provide more communities with both basic and advanced broadband services, unlocking new economic opportunities for central and southern Philippines,” according to PLDT President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno.

In the past, accidental cable cuts have caused slowdowns in bandwidth speeds and even outages for some retail and corporate customers in the affected areas. Natural disasters have also adversely affected the network, hampering vital communications to a certain extent.

“This latest DFON expansion greatly reduces the risk of downtimes which will benefit not only large corporations but also small businesses and households,” said Rolando G. Peña, PLDT Group Head for Customer Service Assurance.

The project covers the third leg of DFON Loop 4 from Lucena City to Cebu City, passing through 11 provinces.

There are 1,070 kilometers of terrestrial fiber optic cables and 230 kilometers of submarine fiber optic cables, with three new DFON nodes or stations in Calauag, Quezon; Naga, Camarines Sur; and Masbate, Masbate.

This expands the coverage of DFON in provinces such as Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Masbate, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Cebu.

The new facilities are equipped with the latest Automatic Switching Optical Network – Sub Network Control Protocol (ASON-SNCP) technology which will facilitate the automatic rerouting of traffic in the event of cable cuts to ensure seamless, uninterrupted telecommunications services.


http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/290631/pldt-completes-p28billion-expansion

NTC sets rules for broadband providers
Thursday, 25 November 2010 18:06 Lenie Lectura / Reporter

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) wants broadband service providers to price their Internet service offerings based on service reliability and speed connection.


^^ Broadband service should not only categorize based on service reliability and speed connection.

I've seen in other pinoy dsl forum discussing that our local broadband provider is already using a technology called DPI (deep packet inspection) and packet shaper. Those technology can basically make some internet application such as P2P, streaming and even ftp session crawling to speed even you have a highspeed connection such as 1Mb... and above.

I think the best way to grade the broadband service is to full disclose to consumer the guaranteed equivalent CIR (committed information rate) for all internet application so that we won't have a misunderstanding between the consumer and broadband operator service.

You may further read this technology at this link..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_packet_inspection

So in short even naka 10Mbps pa yan broadband connection mo sa bahay the telco can throttle you web surfing activity without you knowing it. :lol:

^^ sun cell has that. most of the time aabot ng 1Mbps speed ko, pero pag torrents na, nasa 10kbps lang.

^^ No way to go around this?

Tsaka may paraan ba para malaman kung iniimplement ng isang telco to, using your computer?

^^ According to this link there is a way to subvert DPI but its quite techie to do. See this link..

http://www.inputoutput.io/how-to-subvert-deep-packet-inspection-the-right-way/

Its quite easy to detect if your broadband provider use this shaper technology in your line.

Each internet session you use has its own particular path or sometime they call it a IP port. Normally they block or regulate those common port when you use P2P coz it has specific data pattern signature while other session like web surfing is not throttle. This mean if you use facebook pwedeng mabilis ang speed mo pero the moment you use P2P session either your speed will crawling and even sometime got block depende what time you try to connect. Kaya if naka advertise na 512Kbps (it is just a bursty speed and not all the time) maybe the real throughput speed might be 64kbps lang. That's why it would be more fair if they could stated the real committed speed rate during peak hour so you could shop for better broadband operator according to your need. Unlike now they are pretending highspeed pero in reality throttle naman yun pipe they sell to consumer.

^^ THanks for the lead... Magbabasa-basa ko tungkol dito. Yeah, they're not really being entirely truthful to their clients. Which is annoying kasi ano pa ba ang silbi ng truth in advertising kung hanggang burst speed lang kaya nila sabihin??

good news.....:)



Nokia, Smart loses case involving unit warranty
Sunday, 05 December 2010 20:50 Lenie Lectura / Reporter


A COUPLE’s claim against the unjustified voiding of a Nokia cellular telephone’s warranty upheld by the Department of Trade (DTI) was further sustained by the Court of Appeals (CA) when it denied petitions by Smart Communications Inc. and Nokia Philippines to void the department ruling and found the two companies liable for selling a defective unit.

“The petition [by Smart and Nokia] is devoid of merit. We found no basis to deviate from the foregoing doctrine as the findings of fact and conclusion arrived at by [DTI] are supported by substantial evidence,” said Associate Judge Celia Librea-Leagogo.

Couple Gerardo and Nydia Javier had bought a Nokia 6288 from Smart in April 2007 with Smart providing warranty for a period of one year but after two months, the unit lost screen backlight and power. The complainant brought the unit to Solectron, the designated repair center of Smart and Nokia.

After repair that took three weeks, the complainants discovered more defects and they brought it back to Solectron only to be told the warranty had been voided due to corrosion.

Nokia, in its appeal, said that it had no obligation to honor the warranty over the unit because the warranty could not be used, having been rendered void. Smart, for its part, said it is merely the provider of the telecommunications service and that the sale of the mobile phone is merely incidental to the sale of this service and it is the phone manufacturer that provides the warranty.

“Stripped of verbiage, the pivotal issue to be resolved in this special civil action for certiorari is whether or not [DTI] acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in issuing the assailed resolution which dismissed Nokia and Smart’s appeal,” said the CA.

“We find in the negative,” added the appellate court. “We find no grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction was committed in issuing the assailed resolution… the petition is denied.”  

Based on evidence, the Court said the complainants were able to prove their claim against Smart, Nokia and Solectron.

For one, the Court said that Solectron’s liability can be confirmed since the initial repair conducted required three weeks and pursuant to the adverted requirement of law, Solectron did not give complainant any report as to the nature of the repair to be undertaken and the replacement of parts, if any.

In addition, since it was only after a few days after the first repair that Solectron informed complainants it was voiding the warranty for being unserviceable and totally defective, it refuted point blank Nokia’s reputation and assurance of its products that “all phone units manufactured by it pass through the most stringent quality control measures.”

Nokia, said the Court, cannot evade its liability for being the manufacturer of the unit. Records further show that there was no showing or contravening evidence that complainants abused or mishandled the unit.

For Smart, the Court said the Nokia 6288 would never have landed on the private respondent’s hands were it not for the cellular company. Hence, it cannot escape liability through the mere expedient of pointing to Nokia and Solectron. “The Arbitration Officer correctly adjudged that Smart, being the dealer of Nokia cellular phone, should be held liable with Nokia. It is clear that the complainant did not purchase the unit from Nokia. The complainant acquired the unit from Smart, thus, Smart is not merely a supplier of services but became both a supplier of services and unit. In this aspect, Smart shall be jointly liable with Nokia.”


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/4563-nokia-smart-loses-case-involving-unit-warranty

Telcos’ bid to tweak speed tests studied
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 21:08 Lenie Lectura Reporter

REGULATORS will take into account the proposals of the telephone firms to have their broadband Internet connection speed measured every 15 days instead of on a daily basis.

Deputy Commissioner Douglas Michael Malilin of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said, “Their proposal is that the point of measurement for the minimum and maximum broadband speed should be on a 15-day period. Now, we will try to rationalize it. We will discuss the mechanics regarding measurement.”

Under the draft order, the NTC requires broadband service providers to price their Internet service offerings based on service reliability and speed. It also wants them to publicly reveal the minimum speed and service reliability, all these after numerous complaints of poor quality and very low speeds as opposed to the providers’ advertised speeds.

The NTC wants to impose a minimum of 80-percent service reliability measured over a period of one month. The service offers must also specify the service rates for a minimum broadband speed and the service reliability.  

“They asked for more time. Probably, we can already issue the final order by next week. But the minimum and maximum speed should be disclosed whatever period is agreed upon,” said Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba.

Of the 622 complaints lodged against the Internet service providers in the first nine months of the year, more than half are related to poor Internet connections and speeds. Other consumer complaints ranged from erroneous billing to poor service, vanishing prepaid load credits, e-load issues, and misleading promos.

The NTC had observed that the service providers are offering broadband connections specifying only the maximum speed but that customers have the right to be informed of the minimum connection speed as well, which to consumers may be more relevant. Broadband users stood at 3.6 million in 2009, up from 1.77 million in 2008.  


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/4660-telcos-bid-to-tweak-speed-tests-studied

Telcos’ bid to tweak speed tests studied
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 21:08 Lenie Lectura Reporter

REGULATORS will take into account the proposals of the telephone firms to have their broadband Internet connection speed measured every 15 days instead of on a daily basis.

Deputy Commissioner Douglas Michael Malilin of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said, “Their proposal is that the point of measurement for the minimum and maximum broadband speed should be on a 15-day period. Now, we will try to rationalize it. We will discuss the mechanics regarding measurement.”



^^ I just wonder why you need 15 days interval to measure said broadband connection performance wherein the technology use by broadband provider is almost near realtime. Eh yun performance result won't be accurate coz its delay for 15days.

Does this mean out of 15 days (14 days will be bad connection and only 1 day good connection). As mention in other pinoy dsl forum speed is not the basis broadband connection in other country but rather the guaranteed data throughput. Kawawa naman tayo naka broadband speed ka nga pero parang dial-up speed ang throughput. Hay naku.... tubong lugaw na naman..

shared kasi yan, kaya talagang babagal pag madami na gumagamit.
sana merong gagawin ang telco na ilimit ang subscriber. wag sila mag pa-over subscribe. kasi namn halimbawa sa maximum 30 users sa isang wireless access point baka gumagamit nyan doble o triple na, kaya gapang to the max talaga yan.

shared kasi yan, kaya talagang babagal pag madami na gumagamit.
sana merong gagawin ang telco na ilimit ang subscriber. wag sila mag pa-over subscribe. kasi namn halimbawa sa maximum 30 users sa isang wireless access point baka gumagamit nyan doble o triple na, kaya gapang to the max talaga yan.

true, d2 sa Daraga, Albay sobrang dami ng gumagamit kaya walang kwenta ang smartbro plug-it. Ang published speed nila ay 2Mbps at HSPA pa daw? Pano naman kung 0.48kbps - 5kbps lang pag 7am to 9pm lagi pa disconnected.. di kaya iinit ang ulo nyo? Puro lang naman sila promise.

SkyCable shifts focus from cable to broadband

Manila Standard Today
December 9, 2010
by Jeremiah F. de Guzman

SkyCable Corp., a wholly-owned unit of ABS-CBN Corp., is shifting capital investments from cable services to broadband offerings because of a saturated market.

Rey Montinola, SkyCable marketing head, said in a press briefing Wednesday that the cable company was allocating about P1 billion for capital expenditures in 2011, or just about the same amount as this year.

“This year, about 60 percent of the P1-billion capex is allocated for cable services and the rest is for broadband. In 2011, the amount is still the same but the skew will shift to broadband,” Montinola said.

He said SkyCable currently had 550,000 cable subscribers and 30,000 broadband users. “We expect to have a 10-percent net increase in cable subscribers next year. For broadband, we expect to double our users in 2011,” he said.

Cable services account for over 90 percent of SkyCable’s total revenues, with the balance generated from broadband users.

Montinola said cable subscription in the Philippines had reached its saturation point in the urban areas. He said the Philippines had over 1.5 million cable users out of the estimated 18 million households with television sets nationwide.

“The only growth we see is when the illegal users finally subscribe,” he said.

SkyCable registered a 48-percent growth in new connections in 2010. Eighty percent of the cable provider’s 250,000 subscribers in Metro Manila had shifted to digital platform while the rest were expected to migrate in two years.

The cable provider is also looking at offering high definition channels as value added services to drive the revenue growth in the cable segment.

SkyCable on Wednesday introduced a first-of-its-kind service in the country, called the personal video recorder system, which allows a cable user to record at most two simultaneously aired TV shows and watch it at the user’s preferred time.

The PVR service is on trial and will be commercially available by the first quarter of next year.

Globe 4G tests set until next year
Saturday, 04 December 2010 16:47 Lenie Lectura / Reporter

Globe Telecom Inc. said on Thursday that field trials for the long-term evolution (LTE) technology will last until next year before it can determine the best approach and strategy for its adoption in the country.

During a recent demonstration of the latest standard in the mobile-network technology, Globe head for network technologies strategy Emmanuel Estrada said Phase 2 of the field trials will commence soon after the company successfully concluded the first phase.

Phase 1 trial achieved up to 60Mbps downlink data throughput rate at 10MHz bandwidth.

“The Phase 1 test was very successful. We and supplier NEC have agreed to take on the next level. The objective of the tests is all about collective learning of the LTE technology,” said Estrada.

The LTE trials started early this year in partnership with NEC Corp.

“Globe sustains its network buildup and continues to look out for latest mobile technologies that will benefit the Philippine market. As we see mobile broadband growing and more subscribers clamoring for faster and higher bandwidths, LTE will help us meet the customers’ demand and further improve our broadband service offering in the near future,” said Estrada.

At end-September, the broadband subscriber base of Globe grew by 95 percent to 1,006,460, nearly double the 517,355 broadband subscribers reported in the same period last year.

He said commercial deployment of LTE will depend on three issues—frequency availability, devices supporting LTE technology and infrastructure.

“Right now, we are using the spectrum in the 2100-megahertz bandwidth for LTE trials. It’s called refarming, but there is a need to work with regulators and acquire spectrum to launch LTE,” said Estrada.

LTE is a high-performance air interference technology for cellular mobile. After 2G and 3G, LTE is seen as the next frontier in radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile-telephone networks. It addresses the demand for higher data rates and increased quality of service and enables users to experience the fastest mobile-broadband service up to 100 megabytes per second.

LTE will not only make existing mobile-phone applications run faster, but will pave for new functions that were previously available only on a wired Internet connection. With LTE, multimedia content and applications can be made available in real time.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/52-technology/4497-globe-4g-tests-set-until-next-year

Fitch: PLDT, Globe under pressure from wireless segment

LONDON-BASED Fitch Ratings on Friday affirmed credit ratings for rivals Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. and Globe Telecom, Inc., but said the country’s two biggest telco players were facing increasing pressure from a declining wireless business.

The credit watcher also noted Globe Telecom’s “increasing shareholder focus,” as dividends of 75-90% of could affect cashflow.

Fitch Ratings kept PLDT’s long-term local currency issuer default rating (IDR) at “BBB,” long-term foreign currency IDR and the rating of its outstanding global bonds and senior notes at “BB+,” and national long-term rating at “AAA(phl).” It also maintained Globe Telecoms’ long-term foreign currency IDR, long-term local currency IDR and the rating of its outstanding global bonds and senior notes at “BB+,” and national long-term rating at “AAA(phl).” Both firms have a “stable” outlook, meaning there is no pressure to change the credit ratings.

“PLDT’s ratings reflect its position as the Philippines’ incumbent operator with impressive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) margins at the 60% level and leading market positions in the wireless, fixed-line and broadband sectors. The company has a 58% wireless revenue market share and 56% and 59% fixed-line and broadband subscriber market share, respectively, at end-September 2010,” Fitch Ratings said.

Globe Telecom, meanwhile is an “entrenched” No. 2 with EBITDA margins over 50% and a strong presence in the domestic wireless sector at 33% revenue market share.

“Although Globe's fixed-line and broadband segment is performing well and growing in terms of both revenue and EBITDA, this growth is not able to completely offset the declines in the wireless segment,” Fitch Ratings said.

Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minor stake in BusinessWorld.


http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=22702

SkyCable shifts focus from cable to broadband

Manila Standard Today
December 9, 2010
by Jeremiah F. de Guzman

SkyCable Corp., a wholly-owned unit of ABS-CBN Corp., is shifting capital investments from cable services to broadband offerings because of a saturated market.

Rey Montinola, SkyCable marketing head, said in a press briefing Wednesday that the cable company was allocating about P1 billion for capital expenditures in 2011, or just about the same amount as this year.

“This year, about 60 percent of the P1-billion capex is allocated for cable services and the rest is for broadband. In 2011, the amount is still the same but the skew will shift to broadband,” Montinola said.

He said SkyCable currently had 550,000 cable subscribers and 30,000 broadband users. “We expect to have a 10-percent net increase in cable subscribers next year. For broadband, we expect to double our users in 2011,” he said.

Cable services account for over 90 percent of SkyCable’s total revenues, with the balance generated from broadband users.

Montinola said cable subscription in the Philippines had reached its saturation point in the urban areas. He said the Philippines had over 1.5 million cable users out of the estimated 18 million households with television sets nationwide.

“The only growth we see is when the illegal users finally subscribe,” he said.

SkyCable registered a 48-percent growth in new connections in 2010. Eighty percent of the cable provider’s 250,000 subscribers in Metro Manila had shifted to digital platform while the rest were expected to migrate in two years.

The cable provider is also looking at offering high definition channels as value added services to drive the revenue growth in the cable segment.

SkyCable on Wednesday introduced a first-of-its-kind service in the country, called the personal video recorder system, which allows a cable user to record at most two simultaneously aired TV shows and watch it at the user’s preferred time.

The PVR service is on trial and will be commercially available by the first quarter of next year.

They must. They might end as those dead pager companies like the famous easycall.

NTC bats for registration of prepaid mobile users

BusinessWorld Online
December 13, 2010

THE COUNTRY’S telecommunications regulator will be submitting a draft law before the Senate requiring prepaid mobile telephone service users to disclose their identities to avoid illegal and criminal activities like “text scams,” and phone theft.

Gamaliel A. Cordoba, commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), told reporters in a briefing last week that his office plans to submit the draft by January next year.

“We have already talked with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to sponsor it. But we are still finalizing some parts of the draft like the issue on users’ privacy. We set to submit the draft by January next year,” he said.

Mr. Cordoba said that as of November this year, there had been 10,000 reported cases of phone theft before NTC.

“The reported cases from January to November this year is at 10,000 compared with 20,000 cases in the same period last year. Eventhough the reported cases from January to November this year is lower compared with the same period last year, this is still a significant number comparing it with reported cases of text scams and text spamming,” he said.

“Most of us can’t live without our phones whether for business or personal use. Having such law will assure us that no one can access and use our phone even these were stolen from us,” he added.

Mr. Cordoba said that in January this year, NTC issued a draft circular titled “Mandatory Registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards,” to address problems such as “text scams,” “text spamming,” phone theft, and other criminal activities such as kidnap for ransom.

“Under the circular, the registration of already issued or newly purchased SIM will be mandatory. All cellular mobile telecommunications service providers shall ensure that the identity and addresses of the person or persons purchasing SIM cards from them are verified and recorded. The registration will be done upon activation of the SIM card,” he said.

Two proposed measures seeking to regulate the sale of prepaid SIM cards have been previously filed before the House of Representatives. House Bills 92 and 1313 both seek to regulate the sale of prepaid SIM cards by requiring buyers to be properly identified and their addresses verified through the presentation of valid IDs. “I think we still have to talk with any legislator who would be interested filing those again,” he added.

Mr. Cordoba said that countries that already implemented SIM cards registration are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Brunei.

In August 2000, the commission issued Memorandum Circular 1 3-6-2000, requiring the registration of SIM cards as well as the adoption of pulse charging and to extend the validity of call cards of prepaid subscribers to one year from date of initial use.

“However, telecommunications providers opposed the directive and had obtained a temporary restraining order from the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City. Last year, they withdrew the case,” Mr. Cordoba said.

Sought for comment, Ramon R. Isberto, spokesman for Smart Communications, Inc., told BusinessWorld in a text message yesterday that the company has to see the copy of the draft before issuing a comment.

“About 98% of our subscribers’ base are in prepaid. We need to see a copy of that draft before we comment on it,” he said.

Officials from Globe Telecom, Inc. and Sun Cellular-operator Digital Telecommunications Phils., Inc. were unavailable for comment as of press time.
- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan

^^I agree with this proposal. If and when they finally do require registration for subscribers of prepaid cards, they (gov't. and telcos) will realize that penetration rate is not the appropriate way to measure what percentage of the population really has cellphones. I would think from over 80% penetration rate it will go down to 50% or less of the population who really owns a cellular phone.

And have you noticed all the text scams that come into your SMS mailbox? The likes of Sam (girl from Bacolod), your SIM card winning P380K, getting automatic approval from banks for loans you didn't even request, relatives who have new roaming numbers, etc. etc.:bash: