Smart, Digitel to ink linkup pact

PLDT-owned Smart Communications Inc. is scheduled to sign an interconnection agreement with Digital Telecommunications Phils. Inc. (Digitel) on Tuesday covering text messaging between the two networks, The STAR learned yesterday.

An earlier agreement signed between Smart and Digitel covering their respective cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) networks covered only voice calls.

With the signing next week, Smart and Digitel subscribers will now be able to call and text one another.

Digitel is scheduled to start commercial operations of its GSM (global system for mobile communications) service called Sun Cellular during the first week of April and according to company president Lance Gokongwei, everything is on schedule.

An interconnection agreement covering voice calls was also signed earlier with Globe Telecom. Gokongwei told The STAR that the interconnect agreement for text messaging with Globe will be signed before the end of the month.

The agreement signing between the country’s two largest GSM service providers and Digitel is the culmination of months of negotiations which were often characterized by rough sailing due to past due obligations of Digitel to Globe and Smart.

On Wednesday, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) president Manuel V. Pangilinan said PLDT subsidiaries Smart and Pilipino Telephone Inc. (Piltel) will just have to prepare for increased competition due to the entry of Digitel into the CMTS business.

Globe officials said the cellular market is still growing, especially in the pre-paid sector, so that a new entrant may not really have an impact on existing players.

For his part, Gokongwei said Digitel is targeting only one million subscribers in its first few years of operations, which is even less than the expected growth in total cellular subscribers in the country each year.

Digitel’s foray into the highly competitive GSM service business is expected to cost P8.17 billion.