The race to 3G and the Pinoy mobile subscriber

Oligopolists Globe and Smart and newcomer Sun Cellular are now engaged in a propaganda war on 3G but not one of them has set an exact date and precise terms about their initial 3G offerings.

Consumers should be wary of the situation insofar as this higher level of mobile telephony technology remains in the hands of a companies known for their cartel-like behavior.  While we are all anxious and excited to try out 3G, TXTPower convenors wonder just how much it would cost and whether the common Filipino would be able to tap its full potentials amidst the oligopoly’s profit-only dash and the NTC’s long record of lack of concern for consumers.

Once 3G services are offered, it is only legitimate and correct to expect 1G and 2G services to be offered at lower costs and rates. These services have become cheaper to provide if compared to circa 2000. The quick pace of technology development should result in cheaper provision of previous technologies. Thus, the recent TXTPower statement for the permanent offering of cheaper, unlimited talk and text rates should be matched with action both by the NTC and the service providers.

Telcos should make rate promos permanent, says TXTPower

In a press statement issued this week, consumer advocacy group TXTPower challenged the country’s cellular service providers to make permanent the promotional rates and prices of SMS and call services.

“These promos show that cheap call and text rates are possible,” said TXTPower convenor Trixie Concepcion, referring to Globe’s CelebRATE, Smart’s new Flat Rate and Sun’s Call and Text Unlimited.

Concepcion said it is high time for the providers to help Filipinos by lowering costs of  telecommunications services.

Click here for the Inq7.net story.

Sun Cellular’s new unlimited offering: IM away!

Sun Cellular continues to rock the industry. Recently, the company launched the Sun iMessenger (Sun iM) described as “a service for Sun Cellular subscribers that allows them to send instant messages to their Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and ICQ buddies. All they need is their Sun cellphone (postpaid or prepaid) to start chatting with their online buddies.”

Sun iM enables Sun Cellular subscribers to send and receive messages on  MSN, AOL, Yahoo! and ICQ, check online buddies or contacts, and to chat with any of them.
First day of use is FREE.  Afterwards, the charges are P100.00 for one-week  (7 days) or  P20.00 for one-day.

This service is SMS-based.