Originally Posted by
silver_corolla
[SIZE=4]Rivals feel Sun’s heat[/SIZE]
By Jesse E.L. Bacon II
Man at the Market
Wednesday, 02 16, 2005
Sun Cellular's “predatory pricing” scheme, as what its competitors has described it, really stirred the hornet's nest in the country's mobile telephone service industry threatening not just the other players but quality service and the very existence of the whole sector.
The 24/7 pricing scheme of the Gokongwei Group's Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., Sun Cellular's mother company, is now the subject of a formal complaint lodged by Globe Telecom and Smart Communications before the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for being predatory and unfair to competition.
The scheme enables Sun subscribers to have an unlimited Sun-to-Sun calls and text messaging for 24 hours every day of the week for the measly flat rate cost of P250 a month only. At first glance, of course, the scheme appears revolutionary and customer friendly thus endearing to its subscribers and even to the subscribers of competition. But this is the whole gamut of the complaint: Is this scheme for good or just a costly ploy?
My friends who were lured by this pricing scheme of Sun Cellular are now complaining about the company's service. And who will not be lured by this scheme considering the country's being the mobile phone and text messaging capital of the world? They say they could hardly make calls in one attempt only, meaning, they have to repeat the procedure before they could get through their called numbers. Besides, they also complained that Sun Cellular's covered area is very limited for they don't have as much cell sites compared to the more established mobile phone providers like Smart and Globe.
I myself find it very hard to contact my Sun Cellular subscriber-friends either through calls or through short messaging service or what we fondly call as text messaging. And in those few instances that I was able to get through their Sun Cellular phone numbers, the connection, more often than not, is not clear and off and on especially if the called party is mobile or traveling or vice versa.
It is also the complaint of my Sun Cellular subscriber-friends that in those instances that they were successful in making calls to their co-Sun Cellular subscribers their calls are automatically switched-off after 15 minutes. This switching off of their calls, they claim, has become the rule rather than the exception.
I gathered that actual tests have shown that Sun Cellular's call setup success rate is only 38 percent, meaning, for every 100 calls made only 38 calls on the first attempt are successful. This call setup success rate on the first attempt is said to be way below the NTC imposed standard rate of 93 percent.
Globe and Smart in their complaint alleged that Sun Cellular's pricing scheme is pure and simple predatory aimed at no other purpose but gobble up their respective subscriber base. The two established telecommunications firms further claimed that logic will tell this scheme will not work in the long run because it is a losing proposition. The best this scheme can achieve, industry sources say, is bring the whole mobile phone sector down to its knees and destroy the quality of the service it presently renders its clientele.
Industry insiders told me that with its pricing scheme, Sun Cellular subscribers can't expect a better service standard for there is no way the firm can improve its facilities with its revenues. For every call made or text message sent the mobile firm is spending a certain amount of money to enable it to service its subscriber. This situation is no different to a public utility vehicle (PUV) where it has to spend a certain amount of money for gas, motor oil and other maintenance costs including the driver's earnings to be able to safely and comfortably ferry its passenger to their destinations.
If the PUV lowers its fare just so it can attract more passengers, then it has to operate at a loss. Soon its service standard will deteriorate and eventually it will fold up. Now, what if all the PUV's will follow suit by lowering their fares to be able to compete? In the end, will the riding public not suffer with the industry going bankrupt also? What Sun Cellular is doing is analogous to the above situation. In this regard, it is the NTC's duty to avert this situation from happening in the wireless phone industry to protect the interest of mobile phone users.
(jelbacon*yahoo.com for your reactions)
This too shall Pass!
Originally Posted by silver_corolla
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