Globe expands, puts up more sites

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. is expanding its services to reach the bulk of the 11 million Filipinos living and working abroad by offering affordable calling service to allow them to stay connected with their families in the Philippines.

Gil Genio, executive vice president and chief operations officer for international and business markets, said in an interview that the company is looking at further expanding the list of 24 countries covered by the affordable calling service DUO International.

Genio said the service allows Filipinos around the world to stay connected to their loved ones in the Philippines for only $1 per month from the original price of $25.

For as low as $0.03 or P1.50 a day, Filipinos in the US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom could call their families in the Philippines and enjoy up to 100 minutes per day.

For the entire month of October, he said Filipinos in the 24 countries could save as much as 96 percent when they call their families in the Philippines.

 “At Globe, we continue to find ways to delight our customers wherever they are in the world. The DUO International $1 promo is proof that the wonderful service of Globe can span continents as we serve our kababayans abroad who have relatives, friends and associates in the Philippines through calling services that are made easy, convenient, and very affordable to them,” Genio said.

An option for those in the US, Canada, Japan, Spain, and UK is to purchase DUO prepaid card at participating Filipino stores.

Meanwhile, Globe also stepped up efforts to build more cell sites nationwide to expand network coverage and cope with increasing volume of data interchange among its 45 million subscribers.

Joel Agustin, senior vice president and head of Service Management Division Network Technical Group of Globe, said the company would continue to expand its presence in different parts of the country.

“Building new sites in different parts of the country is in support of our initiative to continuously expand our network presence, providing a robust and reliable network, which in turn, will further enhance service performance,” Agustin said.

He pointed out that Globe would expand mobile coverage in Puerto Princesa City in support of the government’s bid to boost tourism in Palawan.

The telecommunications provider recently broke ground to construct a cell site equipped with 3G and 4G HSPA+ mobile technologies at the AFP Western Command camp in Puerto Princesa City.

Globe has completed the roll out of HSPA+ technology to further strengthen its capability to provide wonderful digital lifestyle experience to its growing 45 million customers.