Tattoo Changes The Broadband Landscape With 3 New Lifestyle Sticks

In one of the hippest parties to hit Boracay this summer, number one broadband Tattoo, powered by Globe, outsmarted their competition and launched the first-ever online lifestyle site in the Philippines alongside three new prepaid lifestyle sticks geared at satisfying every subscriber’s unique individuality and passion. Lifestyle editors and writers and social media influencers from Manila were flown to Boracay to witness the spectacular launch at the Epic beachfront. Tattoo nomadic brand ambassadors, the fabulous Georgina Wilson, social media princess Saab Magalona and Philippines’ Cosplay Queen Alodia Gosiengfiao together with Tattoo@Home brand ambassador Ford Supermodel of the World 2010 Danica Magpantay came in all their summer hotness and talked about how much they enjoy using the Tattoo sticks. During the press dinner held at Dos Mestizos restaurant a day before the big launch, Tattoo Nomadic Head for Broadband Business Dong Ronquillo and Tattoo@Home Head Jurist Gamban excitingly discussed the new online lifestyle site and the three new Lifestyle sticks tagged as the “new weapons for greatness.” “We have, again, changed the landscape of the broadband industry in a way that has never been seen and experienced before in the Philippines. As the number one broadband in the country, we are proud to be introducing another innovation which celebrates the individuality of each subscriber and lets them live out their passion through the lifestyle sticks and via the first-ever online lifestyle site in the country, livetattoo.ph,” says Ronquillo. Exciting privileges, discounts and freebies await subscribers and lets them live their passion as they enter the LiveTattoo.ph site. Access to the site is made convenient just by signing up using the Tattoo Prepaid or Postpaid number of the Tattoo@Home account number. Browse the site and choose your desired deals and perks given by over 50 partner websites and establishments. The 3 new Lifestyle sticks—Player, Explorer and Stylista—all powered by the reliable 4G network of Tattoo could run up to speeds of up to 7.2 mbps but more importantly are perfectly niched. The Tattoo Player Lifestyle stick is your gateway to five free music downloads, free credits to online games and 50% off on Ayala Cinema tickets plus one year unlimited free access to movies and gaming sites like gamespot.com, ign.com, sureseats.com and rottentomatoes.com. The Tattoo Explorer Lifestyle stick takes the subscriber on a delicious journey packed with unlimited access for one year to food and travel sites like munchpunch.com, clickthecity.com, airphilexpress.com, tripadvisor.com and agoda.com; 50% discount at selected Redbox branches and two free music downloads. Buy one-take one deals on Airphil Express domestic tickets are also available using your Tattoo Explorer dongle. For the fab and fabulous, the Tattoo Stylista stick will be pampered with discounts at Multiply, Pisobid, VMV Superskin Facials and unlimited access to popular lifestyle and fashion websites such as stylebible.ph, themall.ph and lookbook.nu. Each Tattoo Prepaid Lifestyle comes at an affordable price of only P1,295 per stick. Tattoo@Home, with plans as low as P799 and speeds of up to 15 mbps, now opens up as well to more discounts and perks from partner merchants such as PopCap, Multiply and A-Deals (Freeway, Timezone, VMV, Bo’s Coffee, Ayala Cinemas). Tattoo@Home is known as every parent’s partner in effectively fueling their child’s passions with fast and stable internet connection at home. Depending on the Tattoo@Home plan availed, subscribers receive exciting freebies such as online edition of any Summit Media magazine and Philippine Daily Inquirer, SurfSafe Bundles (Anti-Virus and Family Protect Suite) and speed boost of up to 1mbps. With all these, Tattoo@Home assures parents that nothing can stop their child’s rise to greatness, Gamban said. Celebrate your passion like never before with the Tattoo Lifestyle sticks and the LiveTattoo.ph online lifestyle site. This e-mail message (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual or the entity to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary, confidential and exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and delete this E-mail message immediately.

Smart turns Boracay into a giant 'hotzone'

The Philippines’ hottest summer destination just got hotter as Smart, the country’s wireless services leader, fires up the latest 4G technologies Long Term Evolution (LTE), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), and WiMax-powered Wi-Fi hotspots in Boracay. With its wireless network on the resort island fully modernized, Smart subscribers can enjoy the next-generation of mobile broadband with speeds of up to 70Mbps — 35 times faster than the average mobile Internet connection. “It’s Smart to be in Boracay this summer: there’s sun, sand, and high-speed surfing — the likes of which only Smart can provide,” said Smart broadband Internet and data services head Lloyd Manaloto. “Now you can share your jumping photos, food trips, and other beach escapades in seconds,” he added. Wi-Fi hotspots and share stations are located in several areas, including the Jonas restaurant beachfront, Boracay Peninsula hotel, Epic restaurant, Juice Bar, and Zuzuni hotel and can be used free of charge. “This our own little way of spreading the 4G excitement,” said Manaloto. “Boracay is the birthplace of LTE in the Philippines and it is just right that we make this one-of-a-kind technology available in this one-of-a-kind destination.” Along with Boracay, several other areas, including Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, and Antique, have already been fully modernized and are 4G-ready. A network is deemed 4G-ready if it is able to deliver next-generation, high-speed wireless services at the push of a button. The upgrades are part of the P67.1-billion network modernization program of Smart and its parent company, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Under the ambitious endeavor, Smart is beefing up the scale and the scope of its 4G network by installing additional fiber optic cabling, base stations, and international gateways which will help its network become more reliable and more resilient. These translate to clearer calls, faster mobile browsing speeds, and stronger signal reception even in the remotest corners of the archipelago. With the program now on its final stages, Smart’s entire network infrastructure is scheduled to be completely 4G-ready by mid-2012. “We already have a one-year headstart from everybody else,” said Manaloto. “And based on the feedback we have had thus far, Filipinos are clearly benefiting from the speed and stability improvements of our network,” he added.

PH mobile phone subscribers to hit 117M by 2016

The number of mobile subscribers in the Philippines is expected to reach 117 million by end-2016, according to a report by Business Monitor International (BMI). BMI's Philippines Telecommunications Report indicated that the country is expected to breach the 100% mobile penetration rate by end-2012, and will have a 114% penetration rate by end-2016. The growth in subscribers will be mostly due to prepaid users, who have multiple SIM cards. "We continue to expect a relatively strong growth momentum in the next few years due to the prevalence of prepaid subscribers, which helps to inflate the headline figure through multiple SIM ownership and inactive subscriptions," the report said. There will also be continued growth in fixed-line services in the Philipipnes. "While most countries are experiencing declining demand for fixed-line services, we continue to see the number of fixed lines in the Philippines increase, which we attribute to operators’ efforts to expand into underserved rural regions," the report said. Broadband subscribers are also expected to increase significantly to 10.23 million in the next four years. "We expect the Philippine broadband industry to outperform alternative segments due to increasing consumer demand and operators’ determination to tap into the growth potential by expanding and upgrading their fixed and mobile broadband networks. We envisage 10.233 million broadband subscribers in the country at the end of 2016 with mobile broadband the key growth driver," it said. The report says there has been no noticeable changes since Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Digital Telecommunications Philippine (Digitel) merged. "However, we are anticipating drastic developments in the future such as the imminent entry of San Miguel Corporation and the issue of Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprises’ 3G spectrum as well as the fifth 3G licence, which has been vacant for a number of years. Besides SMC, we expect Globe Telecom and Multi-Media Telephony to be interested in the 3G licences," the report added.

NTC allows entry of new broadband player

Multi-Line Communications Inc. has been granted a permit to offer broadband services by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). Multi-Line Communications, Inc. now has the permit to operate and maintain data leased channel circuit network in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Pampanga, the National Capital Region, and Regions 5 to 13. The NTC said it found Multi-Line legally, financially and technically qualified to offer wireless and wireline broadband services. The company was required to have a total equity of P55 million for 5 years, but it should have P26.7 million for the first 2 years "With the applicant's increase in paid-up capital of P27 million, the applicant can be considered capable of undertaking the proposed project," it said. Multi-Line will increase its authorized capital stock from P1.6 million to P108 million once it secures approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company is setting aside P183 million in capital expenditure for the first 5years of operation. Based on its 2010 annual report, Multi-Line's assets are at P981 million, liabilities stood at P713.64 million and capital at P267.36 million. The firm's revenues will come mainly from subscription of wireless local loop (WLL) and wireless broadband internet (WBI). It plans to sell its WLL service at P15,000 per month plus a one-time charge of P15,000 per client with an average of 2mbps bandwidth requirement. All of its clients will be charged P38,400 per year for the lease of subscriber equipment installed. The NTC required Multi-Line to start offering WLL and WBI within a year from March 5, the day when its application was approved. The provisional authority granted to Multi-Line is valid for 18 months.

Hello, telpad; goodbye, landline?

The country's biggest telecommunications firm, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), said it expects most of its landline subscribers to switch to "tablet" landlines in 3 to 5 years. Of its 1.6 million landline subscribers, PLDT sees that every year, at least 100,000 of them will be converting their old units into a Telpad -- or a landline and broadband DSL service packed in an Android tablet. “Landlines are here to stay but as broadband rushes in we want our subscribers to be able to maximize the data rich and media rich devices out there. We are moving towards data-powered devices as we provide more bandwidth, faster internet speed,” said PLDT spokesperson Mon Isberto on Wednesday, April 11, during a launch event of PLDT Telpad’s exclusive application. “Apart from traditional voice calls, subscribers who will switch to a Telpad can surf the Internet because Telpad is bundled with a broadband service," added Isberto. While the landline business has long been eclipsed by wireless mobile phone services, which suit the communication needs of Filipinos in the country's 7,100 islands and almost 10 million Filipinos abroad, the wireline-based services are also seen as another avenue to introduce new products, mostly as platforms for online or Internet-based services. Isberto explained that PLDT has invested in replacing copper lines for its landline service with fiber lines, which enhances data-rich devices and services like Telpad. "We see its full potential in 3 to 5 years," noted PLDT Home Business head Ariel Fermin. "We have 1.5 to 1.6 million landline subscribers and we are potentially looking at all of them to switch using a Telpad." PLDT launched Telpad in December 2010 and the company is boosting take up by introducing new applications that come along with the unit. The Telpad has two models running on Android platform, with subscribers having access to over 450,000 applications available for download. Anther Telpad unit is also equipped with a 0.3 megapixel (MP) front and a 3 MP rear camera. Each Telpad comes with unlimited calls and unlimited broadband service. Plans start at P1,849 at 1.5mbps.