PLDT makes final plea for Digitel buyout

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has asked the National Telecommunications Commission to approve the telco giant's acquisition of Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc.

In a memorandum, PLDT wants the regulator to approve its application to purchase the 51.55 percent stake in Digitel owned by JG Summit holdings Inc. for P69.2 billion.

PLDT said the transaction would not result in a monopoly given that the industry is in a constant state of growth, resulting in robust and healthy competition among current market players and even alternative players such as Google, Skype and Facebook.

Even assuming that a monopoly results from the transaction, PLDT said it is not prohibited under the law for as long as the public interest will be served and it does not constitute a combination in restraint of trade or unfair competition

"Under the Constitution, monopolies in the telecommunications industry are not prohibited per se, because telecommunications entities remain subject to the regulatory authority of this Honorable Commission," PLDT said.

PLDT also insisted that the transaction is not anti-competition because it responds to the country's urgent need for a robust nationwide broadband infrastructure and enhanced yet affordable consumer service.

The country's largest telco said the acquisition will increase capability and better position both PLDT and Digitel to provide higher quality and even more affordable services to fixed line, wireless, and broadband subscribers--from voice to SMS, data, Internet and video services.

In addition, PLDT promised the continuation and enhancement of the unlimited type of services that the public has grown to support by ensuring that the mobile operations of Digitel, Sun Cellular, are kept separate.

PLDT also rejected the request of Globe Telecom Inc. to redistribute excess frequencies of the company to maintain "market balance."

"A higher frequency allocation will not ensure that more cellular subscribers will follow. In order to increase its subscriber base, an entity must be willing to upgrade its facilities to fully utilize its frequency assignment to offer the kind of services that the public demands," PLDT said.

Earlier, Globe said PLDT and Digitel should comply with all anti-monopoly, anti-trust and restraint-of-trade laws and similar rules/legal issuances of the Constitution, Congress and the NTC.

The Ayala-led telco also wants NTC to set regulatory conditions for the approval of the sale and purchase agreement between PLDT and Digitel.

The NTC is expected to issue a decision on the PLDT-Digitel transaction by the middle of next month.

Smart opens remittance line for Qatar, UK

Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) and BICS has entered into an arrangement to make it easier to send money from Belgium, Qatar and the United Kingdom to the Philippines via Smart Money, Smart’s mobile wallet service.

BICS is a prominent international provider of voice, messaging, roaming, connectivity and mobile financial services.

The partnership between Smart and BICS will enable people living in Belgium, Qatar and the UK to remit money instantly and cost effectively to the mobile phones of relatives and friends who are Smart Money users. The sending markets will gradually be expanded to include other Middle Eastern countries and the US.

The remittance transactions to Smart Money are facilitated through HomeSend, a global remittance hub built under a strategic partnership agreement between BICS and eServGlobal.

The remittance hub allows the transfer of any type of funds, such as airtime and cash, and from various fund sources, such as eWallets, bank accounts, credit cards and cash.

BICS senior vice president for mobile financial services Frederic Schepens said that the partnership helps address the needs of mobile phone users across a broad spectrum, including those who travel frequently, to those who do not have a formal bank account.

“This partnership now makes it possible for the HomeSend community to send money to Smart’s mobile subscriber base in the Philippines, and reinforces our goal to enable a truly global mobile remittance ecosystem,” Schepens added.

“Smart Money has been designed to provide people with an affordable, relevant and accessible way of sending money to their loved ones,” said Tricia V. Dizon, Smart Financial Services head. “We are excited to combine the simplicity and ubiquity promised by our Smart Money platform with the wide network of BICS, to serve and benefit a wider market around the world.”


BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO) is the issuer of Smart Money in the Philippines.

Smart is the Philippines’ leading wireless services provider with 46.6 million subscribers on its GSM network as of end-March 2011. It introduced world-first wireless data services, including mobile commerce services such as Smart Money, Smart Load and Smart Padala. Smart also offers 3G and HSPA services.

Its Smart Link service provides communications to the global maritime industry. Smart Broadband Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, offers a wireless broadband service, Smart BRO, with over 1.4 million subscribers as of end-March 2011. Smart is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

MMDA uses Twitter for public service

Daily traffic management is one of the major challenges of an urban center such as Metro Manila.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), however, has not only been working on ensuring a systematic and rational traffic system in Metro Manila, but also on an information system that somehow lessens travel stress for motorists and commuters.

Previously, the MMDA used the Hotline 136 and the MMDA Radyo TV to provide traffic information to the public. However, these two systems had their limitations in terms of reach and required maintenance.

Upon the assumption of lawyer Francis Tolentino as MMDA chairman under the Aquino administration, the MMDA introduced social networking as a tool in monitoring traffic and providing updates on the situation in the metropolis during typhoons.

The MMDA is now accessible through its official Twitter account @MMDA. This move is in step with the growing popularity of social networking sites as more and more individuals access the Web through mobile Internet devices such as feature phones, smartphones and tablets.

“The MMDA is aware of the role of mobile communication in helping the motoring public navigate the different thoroughfares in Metro Manila,” says lawyer Yves Randolph Gonzalez, supervising consultant of MMDA’s traffic discipline office and head of the communications group.

For its Twitter services, the MMDA uses PLDT’s Internet service and Smart Bro wireless broadband service for reliable connection.

“Chairman Tolentino thought that going into Twitter would be the right decision for the MMDA. He is right because Twitter is more effective since it reaches a broader audience which means it has a bigger multiplier effect unlike the other platforms,” adds Gonzalez who also heads MMDA’s Twitter team.

The Twitter team is composed of seven young members working on a 24 x 7 shift. Two persons are assigned each in the morning and night shifts, while three man the afternoon shift.

The MMDA’s Twitter team started to work round the clock last December when followers grew bigger and bigger. At present, the MMDA Twitter site has more than 98,000 followers. It is the most popular government Twitter account.

According to Gonzalez, those who regularly check their Twitter account via their mobile phones find the MMDA tweets valuable since they get real-time traffic updates.

The MMDA “has been tweeting relentlessly and effectively,” says blogsite newmediaphilippines.


The effectiveness of the Twitter account was proven when typhoon “Falcon” recently hit the country. Through its Twitter account, the MMDA was able to inform commuters of the flood situation in different parts of Metro Manila.

Notes blogger notoffline: “@MMDA has utilized the power of social networking, mainly via Twitter, to help citizens find the best way possible around the metro. They normally tweet back whenever you ask the condition of certain roads and even suggest the best possible routes and roads you could take. In times like this wherein the storm named Falcon is shedding so much in the metro, Ondoy style, the MMDA does not fail to keep us all updated of the condition of the roads.”

Although his Twitter team has a herculean job, Gonzalez says they get immense satisfaction from being able to help people on the road with real-time traffic updates, route recommendations, and advisories on traffic jams, car crashes, spills or accidents.

Also, smartphone-powered citizens are now contributing to MMDA’s Twitter traffic services by serving as correspondents on-site.

These users voluntarily tweet the MMDA on the current traffic situations and even road flooding or accident right where they are, allowing the MMDA to alert and warn their other followers based on the information given to them.

Gonzalez says their Twitter account also enables the MMDA to save on scarce resources. The agency only spends around P800,000 a year for the maintenance of the team, a far cry from the millions of pesos it spent using the Radyo TV platform.

“Through the Twitter team, the MMDA is doing one awesome work of providing people with updates of the traffic situations in Metro Manila. We need all the support we can get from people from all sectors to enable us to succeed in this endeavor,” says Gonzalez.