The “battle” between Telecoms giants Globe and Smart will get worse by the year’s end. By 2013, customers will witness what promises to be a “pound for pound” fight in terms of marketing, and if the current state of PR and advertising is any measure, things are likely to get aggressive, cut-throat and perhaps even personal.
In his most recent statement for the media, Globe CEO Ernest Cu candidly referred to the negative tone of advertising as well as write ups and column feeds that were being generated against Globe as a sign of fear over Globe’s $790 million network expansion. Early in the program, Cu lamented how “PR” has gone to the point of denigrating competition and how certain opinion leaders have been misled or allowed themselves to be party to the media bashing instead of focusing on the obvious benefits that consumers will enjoy once Globe’s expansion program is completed.
Undeterred, Cu proceeded saying his presentation was guaranteed to “give a colder chill down their spine.”
Aside from talking about year on year gains, profits and investments, Cu announced that the $790 million expansion program was not just an expansion, an upgrade of their existing facilities. The Globe boss emphasized that they were, for all intents and purposes, building a completely new network with the latest technology that will operate not just the present system, but many if not all the latest technologies currently available to the telecoms industry.
Cu also reported that the expansion program is now 50 percent complete and way ahead of the supposed schedule of two to three years that was speculated on in the industry. By end of the year (but more likely in the first quarter of 2013) the entire expansion project would have been completed, providing full power and connectivity where call quality will be boosted up to 100 percent while download speeds for mobile internet would be at a minimum of 1.5 to 3 MBPS constant if not higher.
Another major announcement during the event was that Globe was already testing and will be launching 4G - LTE service within the city of Makati along with the handsets, tablets from Globe’s technology partners. The launch date is sometime September and Globe 4G - LTE is being set up to work consistently anywhere in the Makati business and commercial district without the need of locating a “hot spot.” Once 4G-LTE is established in Makati, this will immediately be expanded to three major cities in the country as well as strategic regions where 4G-LTE would be in demand.
During the question and answer portion, I asked Cu if a major marketing war would be in the offing considering Globe’s historical strength and aggressiveness when offering new products and technology. In his own words, Cu said that they would be “remiss” if they did less than expected. So major war it will be and this will certainly be good for Globe subscribers and telecoms customers nationwide.
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As far as Facebook is concerned, two stories have been getting a lot of hits. First has to do with the repeated mention of reporters that Secretary Jesse Robredo took the small plane in his desire to attend the medal awarding ceremony of his youngest daughter Jillian who placed in a swimming competition. The other story is about the belated discussion and suggestions about Secretary Robredo’s confirmation with the Commission on Appointments.
Much has been said and I have gallantly tried to refrain from adding to the fire. However, some things simply need to be said if only to support or strengthen the views we support.
In fairness to the innocent or the ignorant, we need to understand that “reporters” covering the plane crash and death of Secretary Robredo, for the most part, were simply telling a story and picking up “human interest” angles. People for the most part respond to things that tug at the heart, and under such conditions there was nothing abnormal or intentional, in terms of telling people why Robredo took the ill-fated flight.
A Pastor once told me that people have different levels of faith and I suppose the same would be in terms of sensitivity or “awareness.” That is the reason why laws have been passed to protect the identities or privacy of children and minors.
Having said that, I for one felt bad that Jillian might end up hearing such reports and start feeling bad and guilty about the matter. I was instantly reminded of a paperweight I found after my father died of a heart attack 18 years ago. It was a flat stone and pasted on it was a yellow strip of paper with the message:
“Guilt is a burden God never intended His children to bear.”
As many have said and observed, there were enough reasons and enough people that should have kept Jesse Robredo, Captain Bahinting and student pilot Chand from taking off. But none of them were enough to stop divine destiny.
As for some hypocrites who have tried to milk the confirmation issue of the late Secretary Jesse Robredo, your hypocrisy exposed and deplored is now your fitting reward. In particular those members of Congress who attempted to parlay confirmation for political favors or using Robredo as a springboard for publicity, to you I say, may you reap your just rewards and may you also be denied your position or recognition because there was nothing honorable in your conduct.