Full-speed ahead: BayanTel beefs up IP-based products

To cope with the growth of the ICT business, Bayantel, which provides data communications services such as domestic and international leased lines, frame relay services, Internet access and managed data services like digital subscriber lines (DSLs), is beefing up its efforts to produce better Internet Protocol (IP) innovations.

Joevel Rivera, BayanTel vice president for product development, says the company "has been putting a lot of emphasis on the side of IP—DSL, Internet and even content."

"We’ve recently partnered with ABS-CBN to offer Tantra, a multi-player online game to the public," he says.

BayanTel has also been aggressive in expanding added applications, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) in particular.

Being the first telecoms company to offer voice-over broadband service to the corporate market, it now has the facilities to expand and offer the service to the consumer market as well.

"This is in line with the initiative of the government to extend VoIP reach to Filipinos. We are rolling out new products that are of greater value to customers, price and feature-wise, so people can save on telephone expenses," Rivera says.

Another value-added product is SKY DSL 499, the lowest premium quality postpaid dial-up plan that offers unlimited Internet usage.

Being a regular product and not a promotional offering, it provides a growing mass of Internet users the best value for their needs while encouraging more people to subscribe.

SKY DSL 499 uses the recently launched XLR8 technology, a feature that speeds up Internet functions up to six times faster by decongesting transmission lines through compression, caching, processing acceleration, and ad-blocking, while protecting the user’s PC from harmful viruses and unwanted applications.

BayanTel has also expanded its network to satisfy the growing needs of the ICT sector.

"We have rolled out fiber in Metro Manila’s main business districts to support the Metro Internet Network, which will allow companies with multiple offices or branches to expand their local area networks to Metro area networks," Rivera says.

The new infrastructure allows for high-speed connectivity between and across offices, which 99 percent of the local corporate market needs.

The first to subscribe to the service, according to Rivera, are the BPOs for contact centers, which have sprung up all over Metro Manila.

The service will allow an office in Makati to connect to another branch in Libis, and even all the way to Alabang, as well as allow video-conferencing, Internet and VoIP.

"On top of the access service that we are offering, we are also expanding our value-added services. Bayantel is currently building an extensive network using MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) technology to handle the expected surge in the requirements of different ICT-based businesses in the future, such as high-speed bandwidth and other telecoms requirements," Rivera says.

BayanTel’s customer base continues to grow in the fixed line and DSL areas. Customers have been particularly responsive to DSL services, revenues for which grew by 300 percent in 2004.

According to Rivera, BayanTel expects this growth trend to continue, especially now that more and more people are beginning to appreciate the value of broadband.

"We continue to expand our customer coverage with the help of our partners. We need them to be able to sell more of our services, and also with our promotions which, instead of selling low prices, sell the guarantee of quality service. We pay customers a P500 rebate for every day that connection is interrupted, which basically guarantees that we will give them quality service," he says.

"It’s mainly about understanding what our customers want and need, making sure that we think ahead of them and that our products are of value to them. What we are doing now is anticipating their needs. With the growth of the ICT industry comes the need for resources to build and sustain the business, and this is our focus today," he adds.