Oct 132013
 

MANILA, Philippines – Sun Cellular, a unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), is set to offer best-value data solutions and more innovative communications offerings to help local governments nationwide to modernize public service.

Corrine Zablan, assistant vice president for strategic sales partnership of Sun Cellular, said the telecommunications provider intends to fuel the modernization of public service and local governance nationwide.

Zablan cited its partnership with the local government of Gen. Trias, Cavite for the provisioning of a 24/7 hotline system covering all government units and barangays of the municipality.

Sun Cellular has been extending its renowned unlimited call and text services to power up a unified communication channel for Gen. Trias since August 2008, helping the municipality in terms of information dissemination and in making public service even more accessible to all constituents.

“We are very proud to be part of this endeavour of marrying innovation and public service. Apart from the consumer and commercial level, we recognize the vital role of communications in maintaining peace and order, and in fostering transparency and strong ties within the community,” Zablan added.

The hotline system through the “Serbisyo 24/7” Text Hotline and the “Mayor’s 24/7” Call and Text Hotline comprise of 220 mobile and wireless desk phones in all 33 barangays of the municipality including public schools, social service offices, civil groups and homeowner associations.

Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

The hotline system has been instrumental in sending text broadcasts of public service announcements to over 81,000 recipients as well as in actively engaging constituents in their role for responsible citizenship and good governance.

According to Gen. Trias officials, this hotline system has significantly upgraded their medium of communications from the two-way radio system and effectively brought down the communication expenses of the entire municipality.

“Through Serbisyo 24/7, we have become much closer to our constituents. In our everyday operations, we are grateful to have a real-time means of receiving concerns and public service feedback which enables us to respond quickly and take action efficiently,” they added.

Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (Digitel), commercially known as Sun Cellular, is one of the country’s leading mobile telecommunications companies.

PLDT spent P69.2 billion to acquire Digitel from listed JG Summit Holdings Inc. of taipan John Gokongwei in October 2011.

Jan 312013
 
Filinvest holding firm to issue $300-M bonds

MANILA, Philippines – Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the listed investment holding company of the Gotianun family, said it plans to raise as much as $300 million through an overseas bond sale. Fresh funds from the bond sale, which follows a successful bond issuance of a local conglomerate, will used for capital spending this year, the company told the local bourse yesterday. In a meeting, the board of directors of FDC approved the company’s plan “to issue and float bonds in the offshore market with an aggregate principal amount between $200 million to $300 million.” “The proceeds from the bond issuance will be used by the corporation to finance its capital requirements for 2013,” it added. Target date for the bond sale is within the second quarter, subject to the approval of concerned government agencies. The exact amount and other details like the yield and maturity will determined by management, FDC said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Local conglomerates are increasingly tapping the international bond market for fresh capital. Early this month, the overseas unit of taipan John Gokongwei’s investment vehicle JG Summit Holdings Inc. raised $750 million by selling corporate bonds overseas to finance general corporate expenses. GT Capital Holdings Inc. of banking tycoon George S.K. Ty, on the other hand, plans to issue P10 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds to support its capital expenditure program. The Filinvest Group is one of the country’s leading conglomerates, with interests in real estate development (Filinvest Land Inc.), hotel Read More …