MERGED: Smart buys Digitel (Sun Cellular)

[nio1234]

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unsaon naman lang ni nato?hahays ani... kita ray giduwa-an nila ani....

[brandnewbien]

if mawala ang unlimited calls and text, naa na pd lain company mo offer ana

[estor_boot]

Smart's success bankrolled efforts of the PLDT group to pursue a convergence strategy. The group has established presence in other businesses -- such as media, outsourcing, etc -- that helped the group transcend from just being a utility company involved in traditional telecommunication products, to one with a diversified portfolio of businesses.

But Digitel was a thorn on PLDT's side.

Digitel's Sun Cellular offered the lowest bucket plans in the country, effectively dampening margins of both the top 2 players -- PLDT and Globe. The 2 were forced to offer similar cheap services, too, when subscribers signed up for Sun deals in droves.

Smart subsidiary, Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise, Inc. (CURE) started offering Red Mobile brand in 2008 to go head-to-head against Sun. This strategy didn't work. Red saw its prepaid subscriber base fall by 752,313 to reach 381,477 in September 2010.

PLDT-Digitel deal: What's in it for the Gokongweis? | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

[peewee_toot]

^^mayta jud. dili na ko mo gasto pa og dako para lang sa load. hehehe. hapit na gani mo expire akong sim ky walay load2x.

[peewee_toot]

ang sun baya toy naay plan mo palit sa PLDT. na unhan mn.

[kit_cebu]

ayay......tyabaw nang mga sun subscribers ani.......

[makie]

Now that MVP and PLDT owns more than half of Digitel, expect na lang mo to go a little tighter on your budget sa communication. I don't think nga mawala ang unlimited call and text kay mao pud ni ang makapadaghan sa ilang subscribers. I see a good side on this especially sa Globe. Now that mas nidako ang empire sa PLDT, expect Globe to come up with different perks to lure in more subscribers. Will Globe be the next Sun nga grabe kaayo ug mga unlimited calls and texts? We never know.

For Globe users like me, I think we're in a good position.

[makie]

I don't see PLDT phasing out the unlimited text and calls because it's something that could give them more subscribers. They just "killed" the competition and if they will take it out, they will kill their own business. Maybe we will see increased rates or shortened time span for the unlimited call and text.

The PLDT-DGTL scenario is different from the BDO-Equitable PCI and JFC-Mang Inasal. Equitable PCI Bank became BDO because both are the same, banks. The difference between both is not that significant so why have two different banks if they could be merged as one and become the number 1 bank in the Philippines? Regarding Jollibee and Mang Inasal, Jollibee could not take Mang Inasal out because Mang Inasal is different from Jollibee. Jollibee is serving burgers, Mang Inasal is serving barbecue. Add to that, Jollibee caters kids while Mang Inasal is for the general population. I don't think PLDT will monopolize it with Smart and Talk N Text. Sun will still be there, maybe change it to another name, and the unlimited call and text features still present.

Globe won some market sentiment after the merger because many people felt threatened. Globe is the only significant competitor to PLDT right now and I think is still very capable of competing against PLDT even PLDT now owns 57 million subscribers after the merger (25 million for Globe).

Competition is still there which I believe is the most important thing. Unlimited call and text features will never be gone. After all, the move was just to expand MVP and PLDT's empire and Gokongwei getting a say in PLDT.

[lady_chanel]

aw, postpaid man pud gamit naku..

[nio1234]

huwat lang ta ani... wala nay mahems