LEADING wireless services provider Smart Communications Inc. (Smart), through its Global Access Group, partnered with Negros Navigation Co. Inc. (Nenaco) in installing the first-ever PLDT Wireless Payphone aboard passenger vessels.

ZAMBOANGA. Negros Navigation President and COO Jeremias E. Cruzabra makes a phone call to Smart Global Access Head Tina Z. Mariano (separate photo). Also in photo are Smart Senior Sales Manager Bernard R. Santos (center) and Negros Navigation EVP for Passage Business Jose Manuel L. Mapa (right). (Contributed photo)

"Smart aims to provide our fellow Filipinos real value for their money and a reliable communication means by mounting the PLDT Wireless Payphone not only in the mainland but also aboard domestic vessels that provide daily transportation means to our many fellow Filipinos," said Smart Global Access Head Tina Z. Mariano.

PLDT Wireless Payphone is the first-ever GSM coin payphone in the country that allows people to call their loved ones at an affordable rate in areas without provisions for telephone lines-offshore and in the countryside. It is equipped with a SIM card that is powered by Smart's nationwidest network, making it readily available to use almost anywhere in the country.

"This partnership with Smart is a privilege, as we provide safe and seamless transportation service to our clients," said Nenaco President and Chief Operating Officer Jeremias E. Cruzabra. "Smart's efficient and reliable communication service will provide the ideal backbone for us to successfully deliver a safe and competent transportation service," Cruzabra added.

"We are grateful that, through Smart, Negros Navigation is the first in the shipping industry to provide Filipino travelers with a GSM coin payphone on board, offering a dependable, accessible and affordable communication means to both passengers and crew members," said Eduardo G. dela Cruz, Nenaco vice president for ship management.

Captain Henry G. Ledesma, vessel master of Negros Navigation M/V San Paolo, is equally happy of the newly installed PLDT Payphones on the ship. "I am happy and thankful that we now have our PLDT Payphone on the ship because I can conveniently call our home landline more often, without worrying about my cell phone load."

"This PLDT Payphone is a big help to ship crew members like me, because we can now call our loved ones for as low as five pesos per minute only," said Rose Sarceda, housekeeping staff of M/V San Paolo.

Like the typical PLDT public payphone, PLDT Wireless Payphone is coin-operated and follows the same operating procedure as the previous coin payphone units. Calls made with a PLDT Wireless Payphone to any landline number nationwide cost only five pesos per minute, calls to cellular phones anywhere in the country cost eight pesos on the first minute and five pesos per succeeding minute, and international direct calls to frequently called countries cost as low as 10 pesos per minute. The PLDT Wireless Payphone accepts both coins (P1, P5, and P10) and PLDT Touch and Budget Cards.

The PLDT Payphone business is managed by Smart's Global Access Group. (Press release)