Sorsogon town gets ‘mobile-lized

Fifty-two-year-old Roque Imperial is what you may call techno-savvy. He has an IBM computer at home which he uses for filing records, a pre-paid cash card that is linked to his mobile phone, a mobile banking account, a top-of-the-line GPRS-capable phone and a high-tech Palm stashed away in his closet.

Like any other gadget person, he loves to communicate electronically with friends and family. To do that, he travels 40 minutes going to his province’s sentro to get into an Internet café. On a lucky day he can go to the next municipality which is roughly 20 minutes away and take a chance on a small business center whose Internet connection is described to be as slow as a turtle.

Save for his desktop computer, all of his techie things can be used only when he’s out of his hometown.

Imperial resides in Irosin, Sorsogon, a landlocked municipality bounded by Mt. Bulusan, which may seem sleepy to most visitors, scarcely populated and out-of-reach.

"Mahina ang komunikasyon dito sa Irosin (Communication is difficult here in Irosin). There is no direct communication," said Imperial, who also runs the town’s bakery.

"It’s difficult to get Internet access since phonelines here are localized. They work like PABX such that everytime you make an incoming or outgoing call, you have to pass through an operator," he added.

Everything changed, however, when Smart put up a cellsite in this town of 42,000 people. Like Imperial, residents here no longer need to travel all the way to nearby Bulan or Sorsogon proper to surf or e-mail. From a mobile phone, they can send e-mail or send text messages to friends and relatives here and abroad.

It has become more economical to communicate, so they say.

An interesting result of the "mobile-lization" of the area is that the Irosin townsfolk no longer have to contend with the high-priced long-distance charges everytime they make operator-assisted calls.

While the business establishments in Irosin provide some of the telecommunications and IT needs of the town, services in these places are priced higher than the usual rates. For instance, a five-minute call to mainland US through Bicoltel cots P600 while another business center collects P423 for a three-minute overseas call.

This has made the Smart cellphone, which charges as low as 40 US cents a minute of long-distance call, a cheaper alternative to the fixed-line Irosin network.

For gadget freaks like Imperial, getting a cellphone signal right in the comforts of one’s home is akin to acquiring another sophisticated gizmo. His Ericsson T-65 GPRS phone, which he only uses when he travels to Sorsogon proper and to Manila, is now fully utilized for e-mail, enhanced messaging and mobile Internet in Irosin. He now also enjoys the benefits of mobile banking. He already transacts with his bank and conducts Smart Money balance inquiry and money transfers through his cellphone.

"I can even keep several e-mail addresses. I have a Yahoo e-mail account and Textmail which I can both access on the cellphone," he said.

Imperial used to frequent Internet cafés in Bulan or in Sorsogon as often as three times a week. He maintains regular correspondence with his younger siblings abroad, one of whom is a medical doctor.

"We communicate regularly because my sister, who is a US-based doctor, is the one giving medical attention and check-ups to my mother Avelina who has glaucoma. She always monitors our mother’s condition," he said.

"We don’t even have to e-mail. All we do is text each other or make voice calls since it’s now cheaper," Imperial added.

The bakery owner now plans to experiment on GPRS connection using his Palm organizer and Ericsson phone.

"That will be my next project. Who knows, surfing the Net that way may prove to be cheaper than getting an ISP," he said.

The Irosin cellsite, which was activated end-May this year, has a coverage of five-kilometer radius with spillovers. Residents say that the installation would boost tourism in the area which is known for the therapeutic value of hot and cold spring water coming from the dormant Mt. Bulusan.