Cebu is the second biggest city in the country with a large BPO industry, but less than 10 percent of mobile phone users go online.
Joe Caligaro (left) head of retail transformation and management; Dan Horan (center) senior adviser for consumer business and Mike Magpily, head of prepaid solutions show Samsung phones for Globe’s Plan 399. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
The reason: most of the population is still using 2G phones.
Globe Telecom officials on Friday said they plan to “close this gap” by making smartphones, tablets and online charges easy to afford.
Dan Horan, Globe Telecom senior advisor for consumer business, said he is driven by the goal of making the Internet accessible to everyone.
With Cebu identified as a key growth market, Globe launched offers exclusive to Cebu consumers for prepaid and postpaid cell phone and tablet bundles.
“We recognize there is a gap and Globe just completed its network infrastructure upgrades with now 100 percent 3G and 4G HSPA+ coverage nationwide. We want Cebuanos to take advantage of that and fuel more growth here,” he said.
Joe Caligaro, head of Globe Telecom’s retail transformation management, said 95 percent of Cebu’s population are still using 2G phones and only 10 percent have Internet- capable cell phones and tablets.
“That means there are still a lot of Cebuanos who don’t have access to (mobile) Internet and we want to empower them to be connected through the exclusive products we are offering,” Caliro said.
Unlimited
For P20 a day, prepaid customers can have unlimited calls and text to Globe and TM, and 10MB data for mobile surfing.
For P10 a day, TM sbuscribers can enjoy unlimited texts and 50 minutes of call to the Globe/TM network as well as 50 texts to other networks.
Starting today, post-paid customers can get hold of a free Samsung Galaxy Trend Lite phone for P399 a month over a 24-month contract period.
This includes unlimited texts and calls with no cash out.
The exclusive Cebu offer runs for four months.
Horan said they’re offering three plan options at P399, P999 and P1,799 at two years and two years and six months.
“The P399 comes with an Android device, unlimited calls and text to Globe and TM and 100MB. This is exciting because we are only offering this option with the device here in Cebu,” Caliro said.
Those eyeing a new tablet can get a Samsung Galaxy V cell phone and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 Lite Wi-Fi bundle free at Plan P999 for a two-year contract.
Subscriber base
They can also apply for a free Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone at Plan P1,799 for a two-year six month period.
Both Plan P999 and Plan P1,799 are bundled with GoSurf with free six months of Spotify Premium Plus, a global online music streaming service with 30 million songs.
Horan said the upgraded networks in Cebu will help provide for more seamless data connectivity to Cebuanos. He said Cebu has about 10 percent share of Globe’s total subscriber base of 42 million.
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