The GlobeQUEST Web Phone promises as much as 78 percent savings in international calls. By using the service, calls to the top 10 most popular foreign destinations, namely, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and United States will merely cost P4.50 or $0.086 per minute as compared to the traditional IDD rate of $0.40.
On the other hand, to reach a Globe Handyphone subscriber through an Internet-connected laptop or PDA, the charge will only be P4.50 per minute as compared to P6.50 per minute for mobile-originating calls.
The GlobeQUEST Web Phone is available through any Internet-connected PC, preferably those with broadband connection and is being offered initially in tandem with the Globe1 prepaid card.
Available in any Globelines payment and service center and from prepaid card retail outlets nationwide, Globe1 was designed as the first universal call card to be used from any Globelines, Globe Handyphone or TM phone. However, the lowest IDD rates are currently applicable only to calls from Globelines.
"We do not expect GlobeQUEST Web Phone to totally replace regular phones in making IDD calls. However, there are a number of factors that may make people turn to it. First, the GlobeQUEST Web Phone offers cheaper rates than regular landline and mobile phones; second, it is available in prepaid, thus, is more attractive to budget-conscious users; third, people are spending more time on the Internet, thus, they may want to place calls from their PCs; and lastly, with the growing number of road warriors, being able to work and make calls via their laptop and PDAs would be a plus factor," said Jesus Romero, GlobeQUEST head.
Compared to other popular Web-based programs that provide free PC-to-PC international calls, the GlobeQUEST Web Phone, does not require either of the calling parties or subscribers to be logged in at the same time.
Romero also explained that although other Web-based programs offer a lower rate of around $0.02 to $0.03 per minute for calls to the US from the Philippines as compared to the GlobeQUEST Web Phone rate of $0.08, they are only available via credit card and for a minimum load of around $10.
"Not everyone has a credit card and is willing to buy $10 worth of credit for international calls. This is where we come in. The GlobeQUEST Web Phone offers convenience and accessibility, not to mention the cheapest IDD rates in the country today," he said.
The GlobeQUEST Web phone is especially targeted at companies that require constant communications with business associates abroad as well as professionals who often have to work and make calls while mobile.
Meanwhile, the new service, being Web-based, allows GlobeQUEST to somehow provide an immediate way to provide national coverage even in regions where its infrastructure is not available yet.
"Globelines was recently awarded a nationwide franchise by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) although our infrastructure is so far available only in the National Capital Region, and in Regions 4, 6, 7, 8 and Northern Mindanao, to name a few. With the GlobeQUEST Web Phone, the physical barrier to reach the rest of the country in a way is diminished because our service is Web-based," said Anthony Esporlas of GlobeQUEST’s voice product management group.
Called Sync123, it is going to be an innovative wireless contacts management application that will allow users to back up and restore their address books on their mobile devices onto a Web-based interface. Still on beta, this contacts management service is being developed by ePLDT in partnership with mobile open source company Funambol.
Sync123 harnesses the native synchronization software found on smartphones running on SyncML technology supported by Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and other vendors. An estimated 500 million devices are said to support SyncML natively.
Once names and numbers are uploaded to ePLDT’s Sync123 servers via the wireless carrier’s GPRS network, users can begin adding, editing or deleting contacts and synchronize them back to their phones. This is ideal for users who often change mobile phones or fall prey to rampant phone theft, said JC Medina, head of ePLDT’s data services group.
Sync123 is positioned to be a centralized repository for contacts information. Additional software to make synchronization with MS Outlook, Apple iPod, Pocket PC and Palm OS possible is available for download from the Sync123 website. The Sync123 application can also generate a PDF version of contacts in case a hard copy of the address book is needed, said Medina.
Sync123 makes use of Funambol v3, a commercial open source software that provides device synchronization, application provisioning and device management.
ePLDT’s partnership with Funambol Inc. involves the installation of the Funambol v3 that can be used by wireless application developers in the country, with Sync123 being the first application to be deployed under the platform.
Medina added that Sync123 has an attractive roadmap for users that includes the addition of SMS, e-mail and instant messaging in the future.
ePLDT will also provide a Sync123 application connectivity program to enable third-party developers to build applications on top of the Synchronization platform, he added.
ePLDT officials guarantee that contacts databases on the Sync123 will have 100-percent confidentiality as they are password-protected by the users.
To date, the beta service only supports Nokia Series 40 (selected handsets only), 60 and 90 mobile phones, Sony Ericsson Symbian UIQ phones and Motorola RAZR phones. Smart subscribers simply need to download the synchronization client from the Sync123 website to avail themselves of it.
Once Sync123 becomes commercially available, Medina said they would probably charge at least P500 for one-year usage either through subscription or scratch cards.