Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom Inc. is looking to maintain its lead in terms of cellular revenue market share in the country through the delivery of improved services as it utilizes new frequencies from San Miguel Corp. (SMC). Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu told reporters the telco which is now the number one mobile brand in the country in terms of revenue market share, is hopeful it could continue to grow its cellular revenue market share through the delivery of better internet services to customers. The Ayala-led telco now holds 48.1 percent cellular revenue market share from about 33 percent in the first quarter of 2010.  Globe also now enjoys a 60 percent share of mobile data in the country in terms of revenues. “At Globe, we’ve always said it’s not the number of subscribers. It’s the number of people who actually spend for your services,” Cu said. As such, the aim is to continue to improve its internet services and make it relevant to the needs of consumers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We want to make sure the experiences are better for the Filipino public. We want to make sure delivery of all internet services becomes better especially the new spectrum. We’re going to make it happen,” Cu said. He said Globe is committed to activate 500 cell sites with the 700 Megahertz (MHz) band before the end of the year. The 700 MHz band which can provide better indoor penetrability and wider Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – PNOC Exploration Corp., the oil and gas exploration arm of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co., favors the scrapping of Executive Order (EO) 556 to help the country’s upstream industry move forward. The EO, issued by former president Gloria Arroyo, mandates government corporations to undergo public bidding to look for partners in service contracts (SCs) in the upstream and downstream industry. However, this has been a “major stumbling block” of the state-owned firm in the upstream industry, PNOC-EC president and CEO Pedro Aquino Jr. said in a recent Senate hearing. “Oil exploration is a very expensive business, highly risky. And it would be absurd for us to ask would-be investors or partners to undergo public bidding. Because if we’re able to sell the area and they are confident to come in…for us to tell them to undergo a public bidding is really very, very absurd,” he said. Aquino said the company is looking for partners to develop eight SCs under a 10-year work program. “We want to share the risk because even the big companies like Shell, they resort to farm-out to spread the risk. But in our case, we cannot do that simply because of this EO, nobody wants to undergo a bidding process just to participate,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Because of the low success rate in the upstream industry, the PNOC-EC official said they can only offer a 10 percent share from the SCs. “Out of 100 is Read More …

IN SEARCH OF A WIN-WIN SITUATION: A high-level meeting on the implementation of the right to security of tenure, participated in by government officials on trade, labor and entrepreneurship, business leaders and selected members of the House of Representatives, was held recently at the Department of Labor and Employment. Photo shows Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez listening to some members of the business sector following President Duterte’s directive to end labor contractualization and end-of-contract (endo) schemes. MANILA, Philippines – The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) is calling for the government to recalibrate its proposal to end labor contractualization and end-of-contract or “endo” schemes to make it a true “win-win” solution. ECOP president Donald Dee said they are backing the proposal presented by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez last week but said several adjustments should be made. “I’m saying we have to adjust that proposal.  That proposal is good but you need adjust it so that labor can accept it. You cannot be so one-sided (because it’s just the agency that shoulders everything) and unfortunately, the reality is the agencies don’t have the financial capabilities if something goes wrong to pay the workers,” Dee said in an interview yesterday. Under the proposed win-win set-up, workers can be hired by service providers as regulars, receiving full benefits such as leave credits, 13th month pay, as well as retirement, social security and health insurance plans, among others. Companies, meanwhile, will have the flexibility to either directly hire workers as regular employees or Read More …

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued the notice of award for the North Luzon Expressway — South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road project to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC). STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued the notice of award for the North Luzon Expressway — South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road project to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC). In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, MPIC said MPTDC through subsidiary Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) has received the notice of award for the project from the DPWH. The contract for the project was awarded to MPTDC, the original proponent, as no comparative proposals were submitted to the DPWH during a Swiss challenge held in July. A Swiss challenge was conducted for the project as it is an unsolicited proposal received by the government from MPTDC in April 2010. The project involves the design, financing, construction, as well as operation and maintenance of a four-lane, eight-km elevated toll expressway over the right of way of the Philippine National Railways starting at the junction of the NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan City, and connecting to the SLEX through the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project in the City of Manila. It is expected to help ease congestion in Metro Manila as well as reduce the travel time between NLEX Read More …

The PSEi closed 22.08 points higher or 0.28 percent to finish at 7,575.84. This time, however, the broader All Shares index declined 16.20 points or 0.35 percent. Philstar.com/File Photo MANILA, Philippines – The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slightly recovered during yesterday’s session, ahead of the Sept. 21-22 meeting of the US Federal Reserve. The PSEi closed 22.08 points higher or 0.28 percent to finish at 7,575.84. This time, however, the broader All Shares index declined 16.20 points or 0.35 percent. The counters were likewise a mixed bag but were mostly in positive territory, led by the industrial, holding firms, services and property indexes. On the other hand, the mining and oil index plunged 109.75 points or 1.04 percent. Total value turnover reached P7.21 billion. Decliners edged out advancing stocks, 101 to 90 while 47 stocks were left unchanged. Justino Calaycay of A&A Securities said it’s pretty much still a wait and see stance this week as global markets await the Fed’s decision.  Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We are moving into what we may refer as the central bank week. Markets have been focused on this period with mixed expectations – waiting for more stimulus from the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank, while holding their breath over prospects of upward rate adjustments by the US Federal Reserve,” Calaycay said. “Monetary actions may be interpreted in either of two ways – or a balance of both. ‘Loose’ or easy money such as Read More …