Industry Cellular network Website www.abs-cbnmobile.com Owner ABS-CBN Convergence | Key people Fernando Villar (Head) Founded 16 November 2013 Headquarters Quezon City | |
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Products i Want TV and other exclusive apps, voice, SMS, and data packages/promos Services prepaid and postpaid SMS, voice, data, wireless landline connection, video on demand, pay per view Type of business Mobile virtual network operator | ||
ABS-CBN Mobile (stylized as ABS-CBN mobile) is a mobile virtual network operator in the Philippines owned and operated by ABS-CBN Convergence, a subsidiary of Filipino entertainment and media conglomerate ABS-CBN. ABS-CBN Mobile uses the network infrastructures of Globe Telecom under a network-sharing agreement which allows ABS-CBN and Globe to share frequencies, switches, servers, and transmitters. ABS-CBN Mobile offers prepaid and postpaid SMS, voice, data, wireless landline connection (postpaid only), and access to premium and exclusive contents of i Want TV.
History
On May 28, 2013, entertainment and media conglomerate ABS-CBN and wireless telecommunications giant Globe Telecom signed a historic network-sharing agreement which allows the two companies to share assets such as frequencies, switches, servers, and transmitters and allows ABS-CBN to offer its own prepaid and postpaid SMS, voice, and data services to its own targeted market. ABS-CBN will then pay Globe based on the amount of bandwidth used and for other technical and support expenses. Also part of the deal was the sale of Lopez Holding's Bayan Telecommunications (BayanTel) to Globe through a debt purchase agreement. The National Telecommunications Commission approved the deal on June 8, 2013. ABS-CBN Corporation on the other hand has announced that it would invest 2 to 3 billion pesos in the next two years to the said service.
The mobile network service is supposed to be launched on early September but it was postponed due to operational issues. On November 16, 2013 during the "Tulong Na, Tabang Na, Tayo Na" benefit concert of ABS-CBN for the Typhoon Haiyan victims at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the service was officially launched to the public. Actor Piolo Pascual stated that the first 100 thousand sim cards were sent to the survivors of the said typhoon in the Visayas region for free to help restore communications among the members of the family. On November 18, 2013, a television advertisement featuring Kim Chiu, Piolo Pascual, Enrique Gil and John Lloyd Cruz was officially previewed.
On December 11, 2013, the first ABS-CBN Mobile store and service center opened at the ground floor level of ELJ Communications Center. ABS-CBN Corporation chairman Eugenio Lopez III and its president and CEO Charo Santos-Concio was present during the opening along with celebrity endorsers Julia Montes and Erich Gonzales.
ABS-CBN Mobile has partnered with smartphone brands CloudFone, Huawei, and 0+ USA for smartphone packages with pre-installed ABS-CBN Mobile sim card, mobile apps (such as i Want TV), and a limited trial period of the ABS-CBN Mobile services. ABS-CBN Mobile also partnered with KakaoTalk for free online messaging as well as to Viber, Line, WeChat, and WhatsApp for paid online messaging. ABS-CBN Mobile also partnered with SM Supermalls, Walter Mart Philippines, 7-Eleven Philippines, Mini Stop Philippines, Vmobile, Telepreneur, Corp., ULoad, and Load Central for the expansion of ABS-CBNmobile sim cards, prepaid load cards, and postpaid payment centers. As of January 2016, ABS-CBN Mobile has over 600,000 subscribers. On December 1, 2016 ABS-CBN Mobile launched their own 4G LTE service.