Every end of the month, the arrival of phone bills never fails to elicit a collective sigh among Filipino mobile users, particularly those who value talking to their family and conduct business transactions.
Truth of the matter is, the Philippines has the highest call rate per minute in Asia and even other parts of the world as shown by independent studies done by leading technology think-tanks.
But though their cellphone charges stack up to thousands of pesos, Filipinos have no choice but to bear its cost in order to enjoy on-the-go communication.
That is, until the bayanWIRELESS landline arrived.
Computations based on research conducted by Firestarters commissioned by Bayan Telecommunications among a sample of 520 respondents and usage data from their subscribers showed that Filipinos could cut down up to 50 percent of their phone bills should they avail themselves of the benefits of bayanWIRELESS landline.
This potential savings figure was derived from comparing the costs associated with commonly used services found in cellphones and bayanWIRELESS landlines and average usage habits.
The four main features compared were as follows: local landline calls, mobile phone calls, NDD (National Direct Dial) calls, and IDD (International Direct Dial) calls.
In terms of local landline calls, users of bayanWIRELESS landline can rack up to 67 percent in savings. Unlike other wireless landline services that only provide 600 call minutes for a fixed monthly charge, the bayanWIRELESS landline offers unlimited calling to other Bayan phones and any landline located in the same area code.
Given that Filipinos call an average of 2,100 minutes a month based on the data, the unlimited calling feature of bayanWIRELESS landline disregards the need to pay for additional minutes beyond the 600-minute bundle of other wireless landline services.
But more than landline call savings, cellphone users were found to gain the most from using their bayanWIRELESS landline for voice calls. Charges related to mobile phone calls can go down by up to 50 percent if they were made using a bayanWIRELESS landline instead of a cellphone.
Assuming a person calls while mobile at least once a day, that’s already at least 30 minutes per month, or according to the research, more near an average of 90 minutes a month. Multiply that with regular off-net calling rates at P7.50 per minute of other networks and bayanWIRELESS landline’s rate of P6.50 per minute to cellphones shows instant savings.
Similarly, charges associated with NDD and IDD calls can decrease by up to 47 percent and 74 percent, respectively. With Bayan’s IDD rate going for only P4.50 per minute to Top 10 countries, it’s not hard to see how it beats other networks’ rates of P17 per minute ($0.40).
The NDD savings stem from the lower rates of bayanWIRELESS landline of P4 per minute, which is significantly lower than the mobile phone rate of P7.50 per minute.
The impact of these findings was recently demonstrated in the “Biggest Bill Loser,” the first-ever online reality show created by a telco.
Famous personalities were filmed over a period of 30 days as they use the bayanWIRELESS landlines given to them.
Seen through uploaded “webisodes” on the official website www.biggestbillloser-.com and spread over e-mail, they experienced first-hand the cost savings offered by the bayanWIRELESS landline.
RJ Ledesma, a popular host, editor and businessman, won the title Biggest Bill Loser by saving 30 percent from his average cellphone bill, the highest drop in phone bills among the participants, which included radio and TV personality Boom Gonzalez, real estate sales manager Darwin Carpio and entrepreneur-mommy Janice Villanueva.
Tunde Fafunwa, Bayan chief executive consultant, said, “BayanWIRELESS landline is not for everybody, but it is for anybody who values real conversations, for people who value talking to their family, their loved ones and their business or work associates and enjoy the benefits of unlimited landline calls while on the go for a fixed monthly rate.”