And the Telecom War is on...

[mazdamazda]

odel... touch mobile pa lang ang nag offer ng 24/7...

[odell]

kakakita ko lang ng advertisement ngayon ngayon lang. same na same siya sa sun diba?. magkakaroon din kaya ang globe pati smart oh mga mas maliit lnag na companies under them.. un sa smart un talk and text?hehehe

[mazdamazda]

yup... same lang siya ng sa Sun na promo...

yung sa TM one month pa lang yung promo nila (pero for sure i-extend nila yun).

[odell]

eh diba sila un nagrereklamo bakt kaya ganun?..

anybody tried the service na? congested din ba?

[BlueBimmer]

onga 1 month lng, not worth it imo. pero la rin ako makita TM sim hmmmm

[silver_corolla]

[SIZE=4]New rules on telco pricing[/SIZE]
NTC Commissioner Ronald Olivar Solis said while there are policies in place, there is a need to come up with additional rules to guide the companies working under its regulations.

Business World

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is considering new policies to address issues on pricing among telecommunications players. NTC Commissioner Ronald Olivar Solis said while there are policies in place, there is a need to come up with additional rules to guide the companies working under its regulations. "We have to balance the regulatory and technical aspects and the impact on the consumers. I have asked the technical staff and lawyers to find the best formula. We are also looking at the best practices in neighboring countries," Mr. Solis said. He said the proposal on coming up with new rules was triggered by the current feud among telecommunications companies when some players started to offer promotional rates, particularly for national direct dial calls. Digitel Mobile Philippines Senior Vice-President William Pamintuan earlier said its cellular brand, Sun Cellular, has created a niche market when it offered its 24/7 call and text unlimited plan. He added that there was a need to revisit the rules, particularly for service standards and drop calls. Sun Cellular is currently facing administrative complaints from competitors, Innove Communications, Inc. and Pilipino Telephone Co., who have accused it of "predatory pricing and substandard services."

[silver_corolla]

[SIZE=4]Globe presents study showing Sun Cellular violations[/SIZE]
Sun Cellular’s unlimited service violated the service performance standards (SPS) set by the NTC.

Alexander F. Villafania
INQ7.net

Globe Telecom’s mobile subsidiary Innove filed an affidavit in a public hearing yesterday urging the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to issue a cease-and-desist order to Sun Cellular’s 24/7 unlimited call and text service.
The affidavit was filed by Globe’s head of wireless network master planning Emmanuel Estrada, who also presented their quarterly benchmarking results showing that Sun Cellular’s unlimited service violated the service performance standards (SPS) set by the NTC.

According to Estrada, they conducted a test drive of Sun Cellular’s 24/7 service last January to determine whether the Gokongwei-owned company is complying with the SPS. They based their tests on the NTC’s grade of service (GOS) requirement of seven percent and a drop call rate (DCR) of five percent.

GOS measures the probability that a call will find an idle circuit at the first attempt -- a lower GOS means higher chances of getting the first call attempt to connect.

The DCR in turn is the ratio of connected calls that are terminated. The NTC requires both a lower DCR and GOS.

The Globe study showed that Sun Cellular’s GOS was only 35.4 percent during a 14-hour period; during peak busy hours, Sun’s GOS reached as high as 87 percent. Likewise, Sun Cellular’s 24/7 registered a DCR as high as 14.29.

In comparison, Globe has maintained a GOS of 1.97 percent and a DCR of 1.68 percent.

Innove’s affidavit is the most detailed benchmarking report conducted by complainants on Sun Cellular’s unlimited service. It had earlier filed a complaint to the NTC, accusing Sun Cellular of predatory pricing.

Incidentally, Innove’s sister company Touch Mobile has also introduced an unlimited call and text service, but only as a “promotional” activity.

Previously, Smart Communications subsidiary Pilipino Telephone, which maintains the Talk N’ Text network, had also filed a complaint against Sun Cellular. Piltel head for legal and carrier business Rogelio Quevedo had argued that the NTC has not been enforcing the SPS rule diligently, resulting in making the Sun Cellular 24/7 service permanent.

[mazdamazda]

from predatory pricing to sps...

what would they think of next?

btw, if this is the case... why aren't consumer groups up in arms over the "poor" service of DMPI? and how would Innove's affidavit / testing results hold up (as they might be accussed of biased findings)?

[theveed]

Naaliw ako sa pagtanggol ng mga tsikoteers sa employers nila hehe.

[silver_corolla]

are you ready to rock ???!!!

[SIZE=4]Smart, Piltel to launch unlimited call, text promo[/SIZE]
Posted: 5:24 PM | Mar. 10, 2005

Cecille E. Yap
XFN-Asia

SMART Communications Inc. and unit Pilipino Telephone Co. (Piltel) will launch on Friday their unlimited call and text promotion for subscribers within their mobile phone network, matching their competitors' aggressive marketing schemes, Smart's head of legal Rogelio Quevedo said.

Starting Friday, pre-paid subscribers of both Smart and Pilte's Talk N' Text can make calls within the system for as long and as often as they want for 115 pesos over a 10-day period.

They can also send short messages or text within the network for six days for 60 pesos.

Quevedo said a system has been put in place to prevent heavy traffic and a firewall has been set up to ensure postpaid customers are not subjected to congestion.

Sun Cellular of Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. begun the price war among mobile phone operators with its 24/7 unlimited call and text plan launched in October.

The aggressive marketing strategy has helped the newcomer grow its subscriber base to 1.5 million as of end-January from 700,000 prior to the launch of the campaign.

Globe Telecom Inc. followed suit with a similar scheme launched on March 7.

To join the offer, a Smart or Piltel prepaid subscribers has to have a prepaid load of at least 115 pesos. He should first register through a text message command and the 115 pesos load would be automatically deducted from the prepaid load upon registration.

When initiating a call within the network, a subscriber has to text the call recipient's mobile phone number to an access number. A system operator will ensure order by dialing the number and placing the call, Quevedo said.

"This is why we call it our smart and innovative approach to this new market that has been created. We are confident that even with our unlimited deal, we would still meet the performance standards set by the National Telecommunications Commission while preserving quality service to our postpaid subscribers," Quevedo said.

About 98 percent of Smart and Piltel's more than 19 million subscribers are pre-paid account holders.

On Wednesday, their parent Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said it has extended until April 11, its promotional flat rate of 10 pesos for every national direct dial (NDD) call within its network.

The PLDT promotion also covers calls made to ubscribers of Smart and Piltel.

(one dollar = 54.25 pesos)

Source:

http://money.inq7.net/breakingnews/v...&dd=10&file=22

[BlueBimmer]

yahoooo oras na lumabas yan bili agad ako 2 smart prepaid sim!!!

[Elroi]

[SIZE=4]Smart, Piltel to launch unlimited call, text promo[/SIZE]
Starting Friday, pre-paid subscribers of both Smart and Pilte's Talk N' Text can make calls within the system for as long and as often as they want for 115 pesos over a 10-day period. They can also send short messages or text within the network for six days for 60 pesos.

On Wednesday, PLDT said it has extended until April 11, its promotional flat rate of 10 pesos for every national direct dial (NDD) call within its network. The PLDT promotion also covers calls made to subscribers of Smart and Piltel.

Now, the REAL BATTLE has begun...

[CaRGirL]

[SIZE=2] its up to the consumer to choose what to use... [/SIZE]

[Elroi]

[SIZE=2] its up to the consumer to choose what to use... [/SIZE]

yes, the good thing is we have more choices now..

bottomline is, the consumer wins...

i think i'll have to ditch my globe plan now and go prepaid...hehehe

[kiper]

wahaha...bibili na ko ng isa pang fone!!

ngayon na yan diba? saya!!

[notEworthy27]

prepaid ba?

[boybi]

yup, prepaid lang ang kasali. lagot mga postpaid, paniguradong clogged ang networks nyan!

[BlueBimmer]

sabi sa article may firewall or something for postpaid subs, baka may naka-allocate na for postpaid para di cla affected sa congestion...bili na smart buddy sim!!!

[BlueBimmer]

officially starting na ba promo ngaun ng smart??

[OTEP]

Umalis na kayo sa SUN. Para tuloy na ulit ang chikahan namin nina Djerms, KimpOy, tebs, GlennSter, and the rest of the gang. hehehe.