Globe launches inbound calling offer for Koreans in PH

KNOWN for innovative and ground-breaking products and services, Globe Telecom recently launched Globe DUO Korea, an international inbound calling offer for Koreans in the Philippines.

Globe sustains leadership in international LTE roaming service

GLOBE Telecom sustains leadership in international LTE roaming service as it strengthens partnership with SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile operator to further expand its LTE international data roaming service coverage.

Stocks soar to 26th record high this year

PHILIPPINE shares closed to another record high on Friday, buoyed by optimism on listed companies’ earnings results and tracking the movement of other markets in the region.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished at 6,957.10 surpassing last April 12’s finish at 6,891.43.

Globe bucks dominance of Smart-Sun merger

AYALA-LED Globe Telecommunications Inc. said Tuesday it will only focus on giving continuous and good connectivity to its subscribers despite the dominance of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which bought Digitel Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) last year.

"We're just focusing on our services. We have not changed our strategy. The strategy of Globe is to become very customer-focused and deliver that in a well-executed manner," said Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu in a briefing.

Metrobank Foundation launches 3 coffeetable books

AS PART of its 50-year celebration, the Metrobank Foundation recently launched three coffee table books: Made of Gold, 10 Outstanding Filipino Teachers and Metrobank Foundation Exemplars at the main lobby of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban (retired) and other distinguished officials from the government, business, academe, and diplomatic communities graced the book launch.

Citi survey: Online banking users on the rise

MORE and more Filipinos are taking advantage of the convenience of online banking, according to the Citi Fin-Q Survey, an annual online poll that measures the Fin-Q or Financial Quotient of Filipino consumers.

Seventy-five percent of those polled said they now do almost all their banking from their computer, tablet or mobile phone. Only 1-in-4 continue to visit the branch, and mostly for face to face meetings with the bank managers or account officers. In fact, the uptake of online banking is so prevalent, only nine percent said they have yet to try it.

Globe holds 2013 leaders’ summit

GLOBE Telecom recently held its 2013 Leaders’ Summit, a two-day gathering of 100 Globe leaders led by company president and CEO Ernest Cu.

The summit aimed to align the leaders in their critical role in shaping the company’s growth and vision to be the best customer-focused service provider in the country.

Globe gets Palawan-Coron submarine fiber optic cable system underway

TO SUPPORT the heightening tourism and business activities in the western portion of the Philippines, Globe has successfully landed a 400-kilometer submarine fiber optic cable in Palawan.

The cable will function as a “superhighway” of telecommunications services between Puerto Princesa City to the main Luzon island and the rest of the country and the world via San Jose, Mindoro, making Globe the first telco to fiberize the area.

Wireless solutions provider banking on new products

HANDS-FREE communications technology provider Jabra recently launched its new products to aid the growing population of mobile workers in the Philippines and elsewhere.

In a briefing last week, Jabra announced the release of Jabra Motion headset and Jabra Speak 510 speakerphone with Bluetooth.

Philippines set to open $1 billion casino-resort

MANILA -- The Philippines will become one of the biggest gambling centers in the world, vying with Macau, Singapore and Las Vegas for Asia's high rollers, officials of a $1 billion casino resort opening in Manila this weekend said Thursday.

Studies project that the country's gambling revenue of $1.9 billion will rise to $6 billion, which is currently what Singapore's two casinos generate, in about five years, said Michael French, chief operating officer of the Solaire Resort and Casino.

Globe prepaid and TM segments outperform competition in 4Q 2012

GLOBE Telecom’s prepaid segment was in full-swing during the last quarter of 2012 as it gained subscribers amid a highly-challenging market, besting competing brands that churned out subscribers in the same period.

Globe Prepaid added net incremental subscribers of nearly 300,000 in 4Q 2012 while its competitor brands lost a combined 600,000 subscribers.

Globe posts record-high mobile revenues in 2012

DESPITE a highly saturated and competitive market, Globe Telecom ended 2012 with sustained growth on its mobile business after posting P67.2 billion in revenues, a six percent increase from previous year’s levels.

Fourth quarter 2012 mobile revenues likewise recorded a quarterly-high of P17.3 billion, a five percent growth year-on-year primarily driven by the strong performance of the telco’s postpaid segment.

PSE is world's 3rd best stock market in 2012

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has emerged third among the top performing global markets that posted significant growth in domestic market capitalization based on the 2012 Market Highlights report released by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

The WFE cited the PSE after posting 38.9 percent expansion for its market capitalization in 2012, outpaced only by the stock exchanges in Turkey and Thailand, said PSE president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat.

MVP, Gokongwei to jointly bid for Cebu airport

MANUEL V. Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) and John Gokongwei's JG Summit Holdings Inc. have formalized their partnership to jointly pursue and bid for the P17.5-billion Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Passenger Terminal Project.

The two firms inked their memorandum of agreement for the development of the country's second major commercial gateway on February 22.

Globe revolutionizes prepaid with 'create your own promo' concept

GLOBE Telecom redefines prepaid as it brings another new and game changing experience to its subscribers by allowing them to make their own promo the way they want to.

Introducing Globe Prepaid GoSakto, the first and only service in the country that allows prepaid subscribers to create and customize a prepaid promo that fits their needs, budget, and lifestyle.

DLSU confers Signum Ministerii to Metrobank Foundation

THE Metrobank Foundation Inc. (MBFI) was conferred the Signum Ministerii Medal (Model of Outstanding Leadership in Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility) by De La Salle University (DLSU) last February 16 during the latter's Commencement Exercises held at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City.

Court won’t issue final ruling on public audit of Shell income

THE Court of Appeals (CA) will not issue yet a final ruling on the request of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. not to open its books for public audit, pending the Supreme Court’s action in a related case.

In an eight-page resolution, the CA’s Former Special First Division held in abeyance its ruling on Shell’s motion for reconsideration, in view of the pendency of a similar suit lodged before the high court, citing judicial courtesy.

Globe issues media advisory on text scam

GLOBE Telecom advises its postpaid subscribers to take precaution and not fall victim to fraudulent text messages currently circulating. The text scam attracts people by informing them that they can get a discount or be entitled to a rebate on their monthly bill once they text a certain number.

Jobless nurses urged to try alternative BPO jobs

MANY jobless registered nurses are going to business process outsourcing (BPO) firms to try their luck to be call center agents.

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) is all for it but not for the usual “headset with microphone” jobs.

Google sets up Manila office

SEARCH engine leader Google announced on Wednesday the opening of an office in the Philippines, making it the fifth site in Southeast Asia after Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Globe posts strong gains in 4Q 2012 NTC test

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) disclosed the fourth quarter 2012 results of the Quality of Service (QoS) Benchmarking Tests on the telco industry networks within 16 cities and one municipality of the NCR.

“Both Smart and Globe got passing marks in these tests conducted last December, involving postpaid subscribers” NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said.

Remittances surge to $21.6B from January-November

THE Philippines recorded higher amount of remittances from overseas Filipinos from January to November last year owing to the increasing demand for skilled and professional workers abroad, the central bank said Tuesday.

Philippine stocks break 6,000 level

PHILIPPINE shares breached the critical 6,000 level in early trade on Monday as investors continued to pin their hopes on a global economic recovery, an official said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at a new all time at 6,044.91, gaining 73.46 points or 1.23 percent. This level eclipsed the record close posted on January 4, 2013 at 5,971.45. The PSEi hit the 6,000 level at 9:40 a.m.

Government sees higher sugar output in 2013

DESPITE the storms that wrought havoc on the agriculture sector late last year, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is still projecting higher sugar production for this year, an official said Friday.

SRA Administrator Ma. Regina Bautista-Martin said her office maintains its Crop Year (CY) 2012/13 sugar production forecast at 2.356 million metric tons (MT).

Stocks close at new all-time high on first trading day of 2013

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) welcomed 2013 with a bang after the benchmark stock market index recorded a new all-time high.

The PSE index almost hit the 5,900 level, finishing at 5,860.99 or up by 48.26 points or 0.8 percent on Wednesday.

Corporate earnings surge by 18% from January to September 2012

CORPORATE earnings grew by 18 percent in the first nine months of 2012 due to the improved performances of nearly all sectors, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said Wednesday.

In a study, the PSE said combined net incomes of listed companies increased by 17.9 percent to P377.12 billion from P319.97 billion in the same period last year.

Stocks, peso hit new highs

MANILA -- The local bourse climbed to the 5,700-level while the peso registered fresh 57th-month high against the dollar Tuesday as investors continue to note the strong growth of the domestic economy.

UK Government supports Bangko Sentral’s anti-money laundering efforts

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are working with a British organisation on a training programme to assist the effective roll-out of the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

The training course, conducted by British non-governmental organisation GovRisk, is being held from 26 to 29 November at the BSP Complex in Manila.

Investment opportunities in Mindanao to be presented to Malaysians

PHILIPPINE officials and businessmen will embark on a trip that aims to present to Malaysian investors the opportunities in Mindanao following the government’s signing of framework agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur reported that the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the Embassy, in cooperation with the Putrajaya Chamber of Commerce, will be conducting the Mindanao Business Networking Forum on November 29 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel.

Globe annual report grabs excellence in Quill Awards 2012

IN RECOGNITION of its ground-breaking integrated annual and sustainability report, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has conferred the Quill Award of Excellence to Globe Telecom at the recently concluded Philippine Quill Awards.

Globe bagged the Excellence Award in the Publications category of the Communication Skills Division for the Company’s 2011 Integrated Annual and Sustainability Report (ASR).