Wednesday, May 21, 2008

PLDT launches VoIP offering for the OFWs

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has recently its own Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) facility for the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The move is expected to hit the international long distance (ILD) business but the company is hoping to attract more users because it will offer lower rates of $0.14 a minute. The service would require the users to download software into their computers which would target the Filipinos living abroad. In the first quarter of 2008, PLDT reported a continued decrease in international long distance revenues which has been accounted to the negative effects of the stronger peso. The ILD revenues continued to decrease as the dollar linked revenues were adversely affected by the 16% appreciation of the average US dollar-peso exchange rate in 2008.

With this VoIP service which is more or less similar to the services offered by Skype and Vonage, PLDT is expected to re gain its customer base. Dubbed as the PLDT Talkpad the service will allow the PLDT and Smart subscribers to call and send SMS to PLDT Talkpad subscribers at domestic long distance rates.

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