Staying in touch with a satphone

DAVAO CITY – While on a long road trip to Maguindanao from Bukidnon, Edgar Bullecer receives a call from a prospective investor interested in Paglas Corp.’s latest business venture.

He is using his trusty mobile phone, but when he makes a turn in the mountainous route, all network signals are lost. His conversation with the potential investor is cut off, just when he is about to clinch a deal.

Bullecer, however, is unperturbed. He casually reaches for another telephone inside his vehicle, dials the number of the person he was taking to, and resumes their conversation. Smart Communications Inc.’s Smart Link prepaid fixed satellite phone saves the day.

"I feel inadequate without a phone. With a Smart Link in the car, I’m never cut off. This is a big factor in business," says Bullecer, special projects general manager of Maguindanao-based Paglas Corp., which is into the pineapple, banana and trucking businesses, among others. He also represents foreign investors in La Frutera Inc., which leases 1,500 hectares in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, a town named after the pioneering Paglas family.

Traveling to Maguindanao from Bukidnon via Davao or Cotabato could take up to nine hours. Bullecer, whose work puts him on the road many times, says there is no GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) signal in 60 percent of the routes.

"Having a satellite phone in our vehicles is very important, especially when the car breaks down or when a cargo truck encounters problems and there is no signal in the area," he says.

"We’re very happy. Smart Link is really good news to us. With the satellite phone, we are also able to provide communications to the highlanders," he adds.

Bullecer says Smart Link units will be installed in the company’s two stations in Bukidnon and in all of its 14 vehicles. At present, Smart Link units have been installed in one dump truck, one pick-up and three other vehicles.

The Smart Link plug-and-play unit consists of a main terminal that contains the phone functions and the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module), an all-weather-resistant dome antenna attached outside the car, a cable and a telephone handset.

La Frutera uses the land it is leasing to plant Cavendish bananas, which are being exported to the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Ibrahim Paglas, president of Paglas Corp., has also set up trucking and security services and gasoline stations primarily for the vast plantation’s needs. His other projects include cattle fattening and breeding, and rice, sugarcane, pineapple and banana production.

Another Smart Link satellite phone user is John "Tatang" Solomon, founder and general manager of King Cooperative, a Davao City-based savings and credit union.

Solomon says his Smart Link unit, which he installed in his pick-up, is very useful especially when he visits a branch in a town that still has no or very minimal access to telecommunication services. One example is the King Cooperative branch in Maragusan, Compostela Valley.

"There are many areas that still do not have cellular signal and also do not have landlines. There is no other means of communication but I am able to communicate using Smart Link," he says.

King Cooperative has 22 branches spread out in Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Maguindanao, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, South Cotabato, North Cotabato and Surigao del Sur. "I travel alone with Smart Link," says Tatang.

In mid-July, Smart lowered the price of the Smart Link satellite phone by 67 percent to P4,990 from P14,990, making telecommunications services more affordable to more people.