Nokia Phils. Country Director for Networks Tapani Sairanen said, in an interview, that the OFWs are good and strong market for 3G technology, which would allow then to see their families while talking on the phone.
The Philippines have more than eight million OFWs stationed all over the world. They are, actually, dubbed as silent heroes as their earnings have continually propped up the country’s gross national product.
The 3G technology suits subscribers who often use their cellphones to call rather than text.
The 3G network will allow wireless subscribers to make full-motion, realtime video calls and enable them to download content faster. But 3G is primarily a technology that would appeal to a market heavy on voice calls, which the Philippines, up to now, is not.
Admittedly, however, Nokia Vice President for Networks Christian Fredrikson said it would take sometime before 3G could become a by-word or accepted in the country because of the preference of Filipinos for SMS or text messaging, which is cheaper an a voice call
Mobile phones that are 3G capable are relatively expensive. For now, 3G phones costs as low as $350 to as high as $450.
However, Fredrikson said acceptance would eventually come once the price of 3G handset becomes affordable. It is then, Fredrikson believed that the 3G technology has a better chance of penetrating the Philippine market.
"It will be quite a while before 3G becomes dominant. The current 2G network will stay for a long time and the overlap (referring to the current, 2G and the more advance, 3G) will happen for quite a while," he explained.
On the other hand, Sairanen said the take-up or acceptability of 3G technology will improve dramatically when its penetration rate reaches 55 percent, which could then make other non-3G capable cell phones slower.
As such, Fredrikson said local operators have no choice but to go into 3G.
To date, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) still have to give its go signal to telecom firms for 3G frequencies. NTC is said to award only five 3G frequencies out of the reported seven firm that have applied, which will be based on the most qualified to make the investment.
Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc., Digitel Mobile Phils. Inc. and Bayan Telecommunications Inc., Next Mobile Inc. of Mel Velarde, Connectivity Unlimited Resources Inc. of Roberto Ongpin, AZ Communications Network Inc. linked to Antonio "Tonyboy" Cojuangco and Multimedia Telephony Inc. linked to Enrique Razon.
It was said the Philippine operators can start enhancing their mobile network in preparation for 3G. Nokia offers a network technology that would allow the current 2G operators to easily shift to 3G once the market was ripe, Fredrikson said.
"We can offer between 30 percent and 70 percent in savings to operators if they use our technology. The savings would give them better opportunity to play around with the prices," Fredrikson said.
