Globe Telecom Inc. has reduced its international voice and text rates to major foreign destinations by as much as 87% percent to give local residents a chance to spend more talk time with their families and friends abroad.

From the regular call rate of USD 0.40 or roughly P20 per minute for overseas calls, the amount was brought down to as low as P2.50 to selected countries.

Aside from much affordable call rates, Globe also brought down its international SMS rates to P5 per ISMS to top 50 destinations, which can be used by all Globe postpaid and prepaid and TM subscribers. There is also no need to register, use access codes, or special cards to avail of the special ISMS rate.

Regular Globe ISMS postpaid rate is P10 while regular Globe and TM prepaid rates are both P15.

The telco is answering the call of its OFC clients to keep in touch with their loved ones especially during the holiday season by making communications affordable to its subscriber, according to Alan Supnet, Head for Overseas Filipino Communities (OFC).

Globe has designed various product and service offerings that would make it easier for OFW families to maintain strong communication ties with each other.

Using Globe tipIDD card, customers can call US, Hong Kong, and Canada for only P2.50 per minute; Singapore, China, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan for P5 per minute; Australia, Thailand, Italy, UK, and Japan for P8 per minute; and Saudi Arabia and UAE for P10 per minute.

The card can be used in Globe postpaid, prepaid, and TM mobile phones as well as in Globe postpaid and prepaid landlines.

Another product, the Globe IDD Suki load, can be bought from Globe autoload retailers. A P20 load is already equivalent to a five-minute call to US, Canada , Hong Kong , Singapore and Taiwan while a P30 load provides three-minute calls to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait.