Globe to maintain low-priced IDD calls

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Telecom announced that it will continue to provide more affordable rates for international services, as many families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) here in the Philippines seek affordable means to immediately get in touch with loved-ones abroad.

”In these times of uncertainties in other parts of the world, we recognize the need to stay in constant touch with friends and relatives who are overseas, with more options available, making IDD calls from the Philippines to the world has become even more affordable” according to Richie Sison, head of Overseas Filipino Communities and Alliances, Consumer Marketing of Globe.

“The mobile phone is still the most immediate way of contacting loved-ones abroad and we are making our international services available to help ease the worries of our kababayan both here and abroad,” Sison added.

Globe is maintaining its Globe IDD Sakto Calls promo, to allow families of OFWs more flexible talk time with the loved-ones abroad, until April 30, 2011.

Globe IDD Sakto Calls give callers one of the lowest IDD rates in the country at just 15 centavos per second to the United States, Hawaii, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Equatorial Guinea, and Saudi Arabia – places that have some of the highest numbers of OFWs.

All other countries are charged 30 centavos per IDD second. The rates are about half the price of regular IDD calls.

Globe IDD Sakto Calls combines the convenience of exact, pay-per-use per second charging and the affordability of a cheaper calling rate. It is ideal for subscribers who need to make quick calls.

To call an international landline number using Globe IDD Sakto Calls, users only need to dial 12800 + country code + area code + phone number. To call an international cellphone number, users only need to dial 12800 + cellphone number.

Without the 12800 prefix, subscribers will be charged the regular IDD rate of 40 cents per minute. No registration is needed to avail of the service. 

For Globe subscribers who want the best per-minute rates, Globe said it offers tipIDD card, which comes in denominations of P25, P100, and P200. The tipIDD cards offer rates as low as P2.50 per minute to US, Canada and Hong Kong; P5 per minute to Singapore, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan; P8 per minute to Italy, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Thailand; and P10 per minute to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. At these rates, a P200 tipIDD Card used to call a relative in Japan will get 25 minutes of talk time and up to 80 minutes when calling a loved-one in the United States.

The tipIDD Card contains specific dialling instructions and can be used to make many calls to any of the aforementioned destinations. Callers only have to dial 1286 and listen to the voice prompt for instructions. It also has a PIN-less dialling feature, which enables tipIDD Card users to make succeeding calls without having to dial their PIN card number again.

To activate the feature, subscribers may dial *5 right after dialling their PIN card number for the first time and just before dialling the number they wish to call. They may dial *9 to deactivate the feature.

For mobile phone subscribers who want to keep in touch via text messaging, ITXT 50 gives users 100 international texts good for 10 days to 190 destinations worldwide for just P50. To register to the service, subscribers can text ITXT 50 to 8888.

All offers are available for Globe Postpaid, Globe Prepaid and TM subscribers, except those who are on roaming, and the Globe tipIDD call card can also be used from any Globe Landline.

Known as the leading mobile service provider for its international services, Globe is relentless in growing partnerships to provide the world-widest coverage and the most affordable offers to its subscribers.

Globe currently has more than 25 international call and text products and offers in 17 countries that give lower rates for calls to the Philippines, and over 600 roaming partners worldwide.