On call, all the time

While on a long road trip to Maguindanao from Bukidnon in Mindanao, Edgar Bullecer receives a call from a prospective investor interested in the Paglas Corp.’s latest business venture.

He is using his trusty mobile phone, but when he makes a turn in the mountainous route, all network signals are lost. His conversation with the potential investor is cut off, and just when he is about to clinch the deal.

Bullecer, however, is unperturbed. He casually reaches for another telephone inside his vehicle, dials the number of the person he was talking to, and resumes their conversation. Smart Communications Inc.’s Smart Link prepaid fixed satellite phone saves the day.

"I feel inadequate without a phone. With a Smart Link in the car, I’m never cut off. This is a big factor in business," says Bullecer, who is a special projects general manager at the Maguindanao-based Paglas Corp., which is into the pineapple, banana and trucking businesses, among others. He also represents the foreign investors in La Frutera, Inc., which leases 1,500 hectares of Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, a town named after the pioneer Paglas family.

Traveling to Maguindanao from Bukidnon via Davao or Cotabato could take up to nine hours. Bullecer, whose work puts him on the road many times, says there is no GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) signal in 60 percent of the routes.

"Having a satellite phone in our vehicles is very important, especially when the car breaks down, or when a cargo truck encounters problems and there is no signal in the area," he says.

"We’re very happy, Smart Link is really good news to us. With the satellite phone, we are also able to provide communication to the highlanders," he adds.

Bullecers says Smart Link units will be installed in two stations in Bukidnon and in all 14 vehicles of the company. At present, Smart Link units have been installed in one dump truck, one pick-up, and three vehicles.

The Smart Link plug-and-play unit consists of a main terminal that contains the phone functions and the SIM (subscriber identity module), an all-weather resistant dome antenna, which is attached outside the car, a cable and a telephone handset.

La Frutera uses the land it is leasing to plant Cavendish-type bananas, which are being exported in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Ibrahim Paglas, president of Paglas Corp., has also set up trucking and security agencies and gasoline station companies primarily for the vast plantation’s needs. Mr. Paglas’ other projects also include cattle fattening and breeding, and rice, sugarcane, pineapple and banana production.

Another Smart Link satellite phone user is John "Tatang" Solomon, founding head and general manger of Davao City-based savings and credit union King Cooperative.

Tatang says his Smart Link unit, which he installed in his pickup, is very useful especially when he visits a branch in a town that still has no or very minimal access to telecommunications services. One example is the King Cooperative branch in Maragusan, Compostela Valley, a province sandwiched between Davao and Davao Oriental.

"There are many areas that still do not have cellular signal and also do not have landlines. There are no other means of communication but I am able to communicate using Smart Link," he says.

King Cooperative has 22 branches spread out in Davao del Sur, Davao, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Maguindanao, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, South Cotabato, North Cotabato and Surigao del Sur. "I travel alone with Smart Link," says Tatang.

In mid-July, Smart lowered the price of the Smart Link satellite phone by 67 percent to P4,900 from P14,990, making telecommunications services more affordable to more people.