Smart aims to be webtelco, launches Netphone

WITH more and more Filipinos now getting active in online social networking, telecommunications giant Smart Communications is shifting from being a telecommunications service provider into a “webtelco.”

To start the shift, Smart Communications introduced on Friday, the first of its line of fully integrated smartphones called Netphone 701, which would allow for a full integration of telecommunications services into a mobile device.

There are about 30 million Filipinos now online. And 93 percent of these have Facebook accounts and about five million are using mobile devices such as smart phones to access the social networking sites, said  Giovanni Bacareza, Smart Communications’ broadband Internet and data services head.

“With Netphone 701, we want to be the first to encourage more people to access their accounts online through our platform called Smartnet which is integrated into the phone and allows you to update your Facebook and Twitter status for free,” Bacareza said.

He said that it would not be difficult for the about 80 million Filipinos who own cellphones to shift to Netphone 701 because the device is offered at a very affordable price of P9,900.

“For a smart phone in that category and feature, P9,900 is already very cheap compared to other brands that offers some of the features,” he said.

Bacareza also assures Netphone owners of stable network.

“We are investing part of the P67 million for our network to make it strong and stable for all our subscribers,” he said.

Aside from the free status updates, the Netphone through Smartnet allows one to chat with their Facebook and Yahoo contacts for free straight from their phones until end of this year.

Bacareza said the firm was also aiming to grow its network base of Netphone users and allow each user to contact them through the Smartnet for free.

Smart is confident of marketing the product and is planning to introduce more new Netphone models within the year.

“After about a month from now, we will also be introducing two more Netphone models 601 and 501 which will have a better price than 701. The 701 is our high-end line and 501 and 601 are lower-end phones,” Padua said.

The new models will be an Android phone with full touch features like the Netphone 701.

He said the Netphones would also be offered to postpaid lines.