July 21, 2011

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has announced the expansion of its ‘HelLow’ low-cost international direct dialing (IDD) service, to include four countries with the most number of Filipino contract workers.

HelLow is the country’s first reloadable IDD card which can be used on any Smart or Talk ‘N Text cellphone to make low-cost calls to top OFW destinations, via sachet-sized load denominations.

With HelLow’s expanded coverage, low-cost calls to France, Indonesia, Kuwait, and Spain – where an estimated .25 million Filipinos live or work — is now possible. Calls that cost as low as P2.50 per minute may also be made to other frequently-called countries and territories.

The expansion is geared at “enabling Philippine-based families of OFWs to increase the frequency of their outbound calls,” according to Danilo Mojica, head of Smart’s Wireless Consumer Division.

Available data show that despite the staggering number of OFWs worldwide — now about 11 million — only a small percentage of mobile subscribers in the Philippines initiate calls, and these calls are normally even kept short. This is due to the perception that IDD is a premium – and therefore expensive — service.

“We would like to encourage Smart subscribers to call their loved-ones abroad, by providing them with reliable and affordable IDD access,” added Mojica.
With HelLow, calls to Canada, mainland US, 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, while calls to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Brunei, Macau, Bahrain, India, and now France, Indonesia, Kuwait, and Spain cost only P10 per minute.

HelLow cards (SRP: P30) are available at any Smart Store and other accredited resellers all over the country, and every card comes pre-loaded with P30. Printed on the plastic card are the unique account number and PIN.

To make a call, simply use any Smart or Talk ‘N Text cellphone, dial *4336 + the 11-digit account number, follow the voice prompt, then key in the PIN and the number being called.

To inquire about the load balance of a HelLow account, or to know the per-minute rate for calling a particular country, dial *4337 + the 11-digit account number, follow the voice prompt, then key in the PIN and the service being checked.

The per-minute charge is deducted from the HelLow account, and not from the Smart or Talk ‘N Text SIM in the handset.

The P30 load that comes with the HelLow reloadable IDD card may be used up to the last P2.50, and load comes in denominations of as low as P15, available from any of Smart’s nationwide network of over 1.3 million e-load sellers.

Smart is the Filipinos’ biggest mobile network to the world, serving 46.6 million subscribers as of end- March 2011. Its products and services are available in over 200 countries abroad in partnership with over 400 network operators.

For more information about Smart services specifically designed for overseas Filipinos, visit www.facebook.com/SmartCommunications<http://www.facebook.com/SmartCommunications>.

July 18, 2011

Wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is making it easier for Filipinos to move up to postpaid as it launches UNLI Text Plan 299 and UNLI Call & Text Plan 599—the telco’s newest and most affordable postpaid plans ever.

“Our subscribers want a real ‘UNLI’ postpaid plan and so we are giving it to them” said Smart Mobile Marketing Head Guido Zaballero. “With these new plans, we will further cement our position as the no. 1 wireless services provider in the country.”

For only P299 a month, UNLI Text Plan 299 is the perfect entry-level postpaid package for heavy texters. Not only does it let users send unlimited local texts to any of the 46.6 million subscribers on Smart, Talk N Text, and Red Mobile’s networks, it also comes with a free Samsung E1080 GSM handset.

For those who are also into calling, UNLI Call & Text Plan 599 takes the UNLI experience a step further with unlimited local calls and a more premium Nokia C1-01 handset.

UNLI services for both plans are guaranteed and are automatically activated upon availing the plan. No additional SMS or web registration is required.

“Compared to our competitor’s plans, UNLI Text Plan 299 and UNLI Call & Text Plan 599 gives subscribers more value for their money” added Zaballero. “With Smart’s nationwidest coverage, they will be able to enjoy our services wherever they may be in the country.”

Both plans are available until October 7, 2011 at the following Smart branches: SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, Smart Tower Ayala, Robinsons Place Manila, SM South Mall and SM Cebu.

To know more UNLI Text Plan 299 or UNLI Call & Text Plan 599, go to www.smart.com.ph or visit the Smart Wireless Center nearest you.

July 5, 2011

As part of its mission to make high speed Internet available to all Filipinos, leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) continues to roll out Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) technology to more key areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

HSPA+ is an upgraded version of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology. Based on the standards set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), HSPA+ is the fastest form of 3G and Smart has been conducting tests since 2009.

According to PLDT and Smart Technology Group Head Rolando G. Peña, a significant number of cities and municipalities in the central and southern parts of the Philippines now have access to HSPA+ including key areas such as Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, and Zamboanga City.

“We are fully committed to improving the Internet experience throughout the country and we believe that HSPA+ will play a big role in achieving that goal” said Peña. “More upgrades are slated in the coming weeks.”

Last April, Smart also introduced the country’s first and only Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network in Boracay. Earlier this month, Smart conducted the first public demo of LTE in Metro Manila.

Equally important in providing an extraordinary Internet service is a solid backhaul composed of fiber optic cables and microwave transmitters which deliver data from the wireless base stations to the core network.

Smart, together with its parent company the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), has a fiber optic network consisting of 42,000 kilometers of cables in looped configuration for unparalleled resiliency.

“It is very important to ‘loop’ the cables because that allows for uninterrupted transmission even when the primary communication lines have been severed” said Peña. “By the end of this year, we’re looking to install an additional 3,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables.

Efforts to improve Smart’s network infrastructure is in line with what PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan calls the industry’s “Sputnik Moment”. The phrase, which was originally used by US President Barack Obama, is used to describe a time when companies have to make new investments to be able to move forward.

Similarly, Smart President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno said during last month’s PLDT Annual Stockholders’ Meeting that the conglomerate is committed to upgrading its network.

“We are undertaking a massive modernization program of our mobile and fixed networks” said Nazareno. “For the next two years, we have committed a total of P67 billion to expand and upgrade the core, access and backroom support elements of our network.”

June 23, 2011

Leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) today fired up the first Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Metro Manila. The introduction marks the first public demonstration of LTE in the National Capital Region.

“The future of mobile broadband is LTE, and Smart is leading the way” said Smart Chief Wireless Advisor Orlando B. Vea. “We are very happy to bring the fastest 4G technology to the city with the fastest lifestyle.”

Shareholders of Smart’s parent company, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), were among the first to experience the future of mobile Internet during the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Makati City.

With the use of LTE-enabled dongles, attendees got to try the power of the new network firsthand.

“Everyone wanted to experience downloading movies in minutes and streaming in High Definition, and now here it is” said PLDT and Smart Technology Head Rolando G. Peña. “Soon, we will bring the same breakneck connection speeds to cities and municipalities all over the Philippines.”

First introduced in the resort island of Boracay last April, Smart LTE is the only network of its kind in the Philippines. Its groundbreaking connection technology allows it to achieve download speeds of up to 70 megabits per second (mbps), making it faster than mobile 3G and most DSL and cable services.

The low latency connection also makes it ideal for viewing streaming videos and engaging in other media-rich online activities such as gaming and accessing web-based applications and programs.

LTE is widely recognized by telcos all over the world as the most efficient means of making available high-speed Internet. Several companies in various parts of the world have already rolled out their services such as NTT DoCoMo in Japan, Verizon in the USA, TeliaSonera in Europe, and Telstra in Australia.

“What we are witnessing is only the beginning” added Peña. “In the coming months we shall make the Internet more accessible to all Filipinos as we upgrade our network while at the same time, make it more stable and more reliable.”

A joint member survey between Ovum and Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) reveals an optimistic outlook among respondents that believe smart enablers could have a positive impact on their revenues. “But this doesn’t mean the industry can rest on its laurels: there is still work to be done, notably in defining a collaborative framework that reduces the danger of fragmentation across the smart enablers value chain”, said Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst.

Based on the survey, the majority (50%) of respondents expect smart enablers to produce revenue uplift in the region of 1–25%. “The actual revenue uplift will vary depending on the type of player in question and its strategic focus”, said Zoller, based in London. The survey revealed that operator revenue expectations are comparatively modest, with 7% expecting to see revenue uplift in the 1–25% bracket. This is logical, as the provision of smart enabler services by operators presents an incremental revenue opportunity to their core business.

The survey reveals opportunities across the value chain. For content players the opportunity is bigger; for example, the ability to use smart enablers to produce an enhanced service that can command a premium. There could also be revenue lift from smarter business models; for example, access to charging APIs that enable in-application billing, which means support for more sophisticated “freemium” business models.

For aggregators, there is the prospect of expanding their whole business proposition to support the smart enabler framework from a cross-network perspective. Technology providers could see revenue benefits from the provision of platfroms and integration services.

Alongside all of the above are opportunities for improved mobile advertising revenues from leveraging smart enablers, particularly those related to customer insights, with (as always) strict adherence to privacy and security best practice.

In terms of their preferred partner: 50% of survey respondents want to work with operators, while the rest show a more mixed view of partnership opportunities. While competition is inevitable, all-out war across the value chain will be counterproductive and instead players should look at exploiting collaborative opportunities, of which they are many.

“The reality is that content providers and application developers will work with more than one enabling partner; for example, a web developer might produce a social networking application that draws on application programming interfaces (APIs) from Facebook, Google Maps, and one or more operators’ network location capabilities,” observes Zoller. “In this context, operator APIs are one of the available tools in a wider web-based toolkit where developers are free to make applications based on a mashup of standardized APIs”.

* The findings of Ovum/MEF survey are contained in a new report entitled “The Mobile Entertainment Forum and Ovum guide to smart enablers”

The Mobile Entertainment Forum is the global trade body of the mobile media and entertainment industry.  It represents the leading companies throughout the entire mobile entertainment value chain, and works on behalf of its diverse membership to facilitate industry growth, shape regulation and deliver competitive advantage to its members.

With global headquarters in London and operational chapters in Asia, EMEA, LATAM and North America, MEF is a member network with a global reach, strong local representation and the ability to drive market change.  Established in 2000, MEF provides a consistent and powerful voice for the foremost mobile media businesses and entrepreneurs.  For further information, visit www.m-e-f.org

The Guide is available free to download at http://www.m-e-f.org/initiatives/enablers/enablers_guide/mef_guide_to_smart_enablers/

August 3, 2010

Leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) recently conducted its first Mobile Internet Customer Education Program talk to about 300 students of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU). The program is part of SMART’s “Internet for All” advocacy, which aims to provide affordable access to Internet to Filipinos nationwide. The country currently has only 24 million Internet users, and out of SMART’s 44 million subscribers, only roughly 10% access the Internet from their cellular phones. Smart Bro subscribers number 1.2 million as of end-March 2010. The program will be rolled out from July to November 2010 in 36 SMART Experience Centers and PLDT centers nationwide.

August 3, 2010

Leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) recently conducted its first Mobile Internet Customer Education session to around 300 students of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU). The program is part of SMART’s “Internet for All” advocacy, which aims to provide affordable access to Internet to Filipinos nationwide. The country currently has 24 million Internet users, and out of SMART’s 44 million subscribers, only roughly 10% access the Internet from their cellular phones. The program will be rolled out from July to November 2010 in 36 SMART Experience Centers and PLDT centers nationwide.

Photo shows (left to right) Onofre Herrera Jr., SMART South NCR Community Care specialist; Denies Argarin, SMART training supervisor; Chat Manaois, SMART Business and Development officer; Dr. Fiel Nierva, PWU Marketing head; Ofel Verceles, PWU Corporate Management Information and Computer Service director;  Elisa Maligalig, PWU Student Affairs director; Alfredo Reyes, PWU president and CEO; Olivia Villafuerte, PWU Alumni director; Aurora De Leon, PWU Special Project director; Mary Ann Zuniga, SMART South NCR Area manager; and Giselle Garcia, SMART North NCR Area manager.

June 23, 2010

Dr. Ben Eisner, the new president and chief operating officer of global contact center solutions provider Cosmocom, recently visited the Philippines and was welcomed by executives of premier ICT company ePLDT. During his stay, Dr Eisner and other Cosmocom officials toured ePLDT’s VITRO Data Center as well as the PLDT and SMART Contact Centers. Dr. Eisner also met with ePLDT president and chief executive officer Beth G. Lui as well as top representatives from PLDT and SMART during a special dinner held in his honor. Cosmocom technology is available in the country through ePLDT’s Unified Contact Center Plus line of solutions, which is currently used by clients from various industries including the BPO and financial sectors. Photo shows (seated from left) Jessica Powell, Vice President for Sales and Marketing-ePLDT; Yohlie C. Jarlego, Assistant Vice President for IP Contact Center Solutions-ePLDT; Joy Sanchez, Customer Care Department Head-SMART; Dr. Ben Eisner; Mrs. Shlomit Eisner; and Beth G. Lui. (standing from left) Andie Rees, Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan-Cosmocom; Joma Cruz, Corporate Customer Care Head-PLDT; Gene de Guzman, Corporate Operations Support Head-ePLDT; Aislinn Duque, CRM Support Services Manager-ePLDT; Joe Bondoc, Adaptive Credit and Payment Systems Department Head-SMART; Adrien Tan, Senior Manager for Technical Operations/Customer Care-SMART; Beng Kiat Yeo, Channels Director for Asia Pacific-Cosmocom; and Joey Torregoza, Service Delivery Management Head-ePLDT.