Category: Text News

Thousands of mobile phone subscribers sent text messages asking for help at the height of flashfloods that submerged their homes on September 26, 2009, when telephone and power lines were cut off in many parts of Luzon.  Although help came a day or two days later, and for many, did not come at all, flashflood victims were able to send SOS through SMS to radio and television stations and the hotlines of government agencies during the time they needed help the most.

"Despite damages on our equipment, we were getting anecdotal evidence that we had signals in calamity areas," said Mr. Ramon Isberto, spokesman of Smart Communications and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. or PLDT.

"Even in areas that were flooded, we were able to provide coverage. That's why people were able to send text," said Isberto. "I personally handled three cases and attended to their problems through my cell phone."

Thousands of people fled from their homes in low lying areas in Metro Manila, which suffered the heaviest rainfall in four decades on 26th September, as a result of typhoon Ondoy (international code name Ketsana) that crossed Luzon from the Pacific Ocean.  Metro Manila and 23 provinces in Luzon were declared under state of calamity.

The typhoon also left more than 140 casualties and dozens more missing, because of the flash floods and landslines triggered by the heavy rains, measuring 341 millimeters in a six-hour period, which authorities said was nearly equivalent to a one-month of rain that the country received in the past month.  This surpassed the previous record for Metro Manila in 1967, according to the weather bureau.

“We were able to break that record in a span of six hours. Today, we really experienced an extreme weather event," said Mr. Nathaniel Cruz, weather services bureau head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).  He said this was a proof that the country was affected by climate change.

Smart Communications has launched a new card that allows its subscribers to make calls to their relatives in the United States for only P2.50 per minute.  Hellow is described as the first reloadable international direct dialing (IDD) card which can be used on any Smart or Talk 'N Text mobile phone to make calls to 17 destinations.

While the calls to US, Canada, Guam and Hawaii cost only P2.50 per minute, calls to Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Hong Kong cost P5. For calls to Japan, Australia, UK, Italy and Thailand, Hellow offers P8 per minute.  Calls to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates cost P10 per minute.  "Hellow rates vary depending on the rates of our partners.  Calls to the Middle East remain very expensive," Kathryn Carag, head of Smart's international services, said.

Smart Communications, Inc., the mobile phone unit of PLDT, and Globe Telecom have warned that the consolidated bill approved by the House of Representatives on September 3, 2009 imposing a 5 centavo tax on text and other services will hurt consumers, particularly low-income earners, who are heavy users of these services.  Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, himself, said he opposes the proposal by the House, because this would be passed on to consumers.

The House version contains: Section 4, which seeks to impose a P0.05 tax per SMS (short messaging service), MS (messaging service) and multi-media service (MMS); Section 5, which will imposed P0.05 tax per overseas dispatch, message or conversation transmitted from the Philippines; and Section 6, which orders the National Telecommunication Commission or NTC to acquire a metering device or portal which will interconnect the NTC, BIR and other concerned agencies with mobile phone service providers.

Globe Telecom has introduced a trunkline office phone system that designates mobile phones as extension numbers. "This product is unique to Globe in the Philippines, which is also among the first countries to offer the virtual trunkline service, after the United Kingdom and Denmark," Globe Business head Gil Genio said.

Globe OneCall is a virtual trunkline system, powered by software as a service solutions, that enables employees of a corporation or a small and medium enterprise to collectively stay connected at anytime, with just one landline number.  "Businesses will become even more accessible with OneCall," Genio said. The product is considered an evolution of Globe Duo's service, which combines the mobility of a cellphone and affordability of a landline number.

Manny Aligada, head of Globe Business Corporate and SME segments, said the new product was specially designed to provide mobile connectivity to small and medium enterprises, such as restaurants with delivery, law firms, contractors, sales teams, advertising groups, and other customer-centric organizations.

Sun Cellular, the wireless brand of the Gokongwei Group's Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. posted a phenomenal growth in its revenues that easily eclipsed those of the two major telecom companies this year.

JG Summit Holdings Inc., the parent firm of Digitel, said its wireless business saw a 62.4 percent year-on-year growth in revenues in the first six months of the year. This was much faster than the 2 percent growth in Globe Telecom's consolidated service revenues amounting to P31.7 billion in the first half and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.'s revenues of P74 billion representing a 3 percent increase from a year ago.

Sun Cellular, which now boasts of 4,800 cell sites nationwide, has been investing $300 million annually for its network expansion since its was formed in 2003.

Most grandparents long for better relationships with their apos and vice versa.  But in this fast-paced world where everything happens so fast and tasks have to be juggled simultaneously, the weekend lunches with lolos and lolas seem to be happening fewer and far-between, and even the occasional phone call gets buried under a barrage of to-dos.

An informal poll, conducted by Bayan Telecommunications (Bayan) with via Plurk and Facebook social networking sites, revealed that given the chance, 87 percent of young people would want to continue communicating with their grandparents.  The same informal poll revealed that 81 percent of Filipinos are still close to their grandparents, and that 57 percent still visit from time to time.

The emergence of the Internet, which ironically contributed to the fast-pace of this new age, is offering a means through which grandchildren and their grandparents can constantly keep in touch. According to Nielsen’s Net Index Topline Report, the Philippine media landscape has changed so much that internet has slowly encroached upon, and in some cases even overtaken, the popularity of traditional media such as television, radio and newspapers. The Nielsen study also predicts that the Philippines will have over 35 million internet users in 2012, from a little over 20 million this year.

Internet connection in the Philippines and other Asia-Pacific countries has lost speed since August 12, 2009, following multiple cable faults discovered in two undersea fiber optic cable networks connecting Asia-Pacific countries.

Cuts within the 19,000-kilometer Asia Pacific Cable Network 2, which has a landing station in Batangas, affected speeds of Internet connection in the region.  The top telecom companies in the Philippines use the affected cable network.

The Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3 also sustained multiple faults.  “These faults have been detected between Singapore and Malaysia and between China and Taiwan . The exact cause of these faults is still unknown,” Philippine Long Distance Telecom Co. (PLDT) said in an advisory.

The Philippines continues to defy the global trend of declining sales in mobile phones in 2009 amid the economic downturn, according to an executive of Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia.
 
"The global phone market was down 10 percent this year.  In the Philippines, I have not seen any slowdown," Mr. William Hamilton-Whyte, general manager of Nokia Philippines said, although he refused to cite specific growth numbers.
 
Nokia accounts for more than 50 percent of total mobile phone sales in the Philippines, which continues to be a dynamic market.  However, Mr. Whyte said that because of the global economic downturn, mobile phone users in the Philippines may change their handsets less often.

After introducing major policy changes in the telecom industry, Mr. Ruel Canobas has resigned as head of the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC), citing the health condition of his wife as the main reason.  She is suffering from a gynecological ailment, according to reports.  Commissioner Canobas, a lawyer and a former political adviser of President Arroyo, made the announcement, after spearheading major policy changes in the telecom industry amidst complaints from consumers about vanishing prepaid mobile phone credits or electronic load.

In his resignation letter addressed to the president, Mr. Canobas said his wife needed his full attention because of her situation. President Arroyo, who is on a state visit to the United States, has yet to announce the replacement of Mr. Canobas.  While he did not say what was afflicting his wife, Canobas said it is at this critical time that she needs constant medical attention, emotional and spiritual guidance from members of the family.  "It is for this reason that I am voluntarily leaving my present post, he said.