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Thursday, June 02, 2005
Many to benefit from cheap calls to US thru VoIP: industry player
There's no way of stopping technological breakthroughs.
To deprive many of what is good and economical, like calls to the United States from the Philippines for as low as P1.40 a minute through voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology, would be selfish.
That’s what Simeon Edward Lim, chief executive officer and managing director of DB Edwards (DBE), said last Monday.
DBE, provider of InTouch VoIP phone solutions, provides free PC-to-PC (personal computer) calls and low-cost phone-to-phone, PC-to-phone, phone-to-PC and voice calls and video conferencing to individuals, companies and Internet cafes.
Lim is optimistic about his business after the National
Telecommunications Commission (NTC) released its draft ruling on VoIP last March.
“The NTC classified Voice over Internet Protocol as a value-added service as provided in RA 7925, also known as the Public Telecommunications Policy Act,” Lim told Sun.Star.
Section 11 of Republic Act 7925 says those who offer value-added services do not need to secure a congressional franchise.
All for it
NTC 7 Regional Director Danilo Sy favors the use of VoIP.
“I don’t see anything wrong with that. VoIP would give people the chance to communicate with their family and friends outside the country without being hindered by its cost,” Sy told Sun.Star in a separate interview.
Lim said telephone companies (telco) need not fret about the emergence of VoIP because they can also earn from it.
“First, the more people use VoIP, the more subscriptions on telcos’ digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. Second, VoIP providers like us buy airtime from international carriers who also buy airtime from telcos all over the world. If not, our subscribers’ calls can’t get in their gateway,” he explained.
Dingdong Pesayco, Cebu business zone head of dominant telecommunications firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., said PLDT has no official statement regarding VoIP yet. But he said that it’s a reality that PLDT is aware of.
DBE’s Lim plans to launch his own Internet café centers in major areas in Cebu that will serve as the company’s frontlines.
“We will also have a tie-up with ABS-CBN, where we will provide free calls for overseas Filipino worker dependents to their relatives abroad. With free or cheaper calls abroad, there will be constant communication that will create family solidarity,” he said.
Since the launch of the low-cost calling service last December, some 2,700 people have availed themselves of DBE’s free seven-day trial (www.intouch.com.ph), where they can make overseas calls for free.
Around 40 percent of them have subscribed to the low-cost service.
Internet Café Association of Cebu (Icac) president Felix Cogal Jr. said VoIP would help boost the Internet business.
However, only a small number of Internet cafés are currently offering this service because many are not aware of its benefits.
Icac will discuss VoIP during its general membership meeting this Saturday, Cogal said. (ALC)
(June 2, 2005 issue)
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