The 3rd telco player
When I met businessman Salvador “Buddy” Zamora II for the first time last week, I was given one hour to talk to him. I didn’t think I could squeeze all my questions in such a short time.
But because my house is a dead spot, I first asked about his foray into telecoms through his acquisition of Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PT&T).
“Why do you want to be a third telco player?” I asked the new chairman of PT&T. “So I can become second and when I’m second, I can become first,” he said, visibly excited.
It’s a bold plan, but Mr. Z, as some people call him, sounded serious.
Will he succeed? We’ll have to wait and see.
Breaking the telco duopoly is no joke, but Zamora said he loves challenges.
Looking around his elegant office, I somewhat understood what he meant — there’s a jaw dropping collection of hard-to-find curio items.
You get a glimpse of how he is as a businessman — curious, maverick, won’t settle for less. Everything in the office is hard to find, if not bizarre. There’s a pair of rare gold shoes in a glass case, a Kalashnikov table lamp, a Rolls Royce Academy diploma, a vintage clock that seemed to have come straight from the movie Alice Through the Looking Glass, a couch fit for royalty, a shimmering knight statue and many, many more. “I love challenges,” he said. This, he said, is one of the reasons he is braving the telco industry.
BREAKING THE DUOPOLY
And he has grand plans for PT&T. “It’s high time for a third player,” he said, “because there isn’t a single (telco) customer in the country who is satisfied.”
Even Chinese tycoon Jack Ma couldn’t help but notice the slow internet in the country.
CHINA TELECOM OR SOFTBANK
PT&T is already in talks with at least two foreign telco giants, China Telecom and Japan’s Softbank as potential partners.
It expects to finalize a deal within the year to be able to roll out the business next year, starting with the broadband business, Zamora said.
Three to five years down the road, PT&T will roll out better mobile services as well.
And Zamora said it would be better than the existing telco services in the country.
WHAT GLOBE HAS TO SAY
When I asked Ernest Cu — the man credited for making Globe Telecom the giant that it is now — to comment on the entry of a third telco player, he said “everyone is welcome.” “And we’re going to compete vigorously,” he said. But he also gave a warning. “If you can survive with close to a billion dollars every year in capex to keep up with network demand, then do so,” he said. It’s not going to be easy and Zamora knows it. What happens next remains to be seen, but one thing is sure — competition will always be good for everyone.
AIRLINE SHAKE UP: PAL’S NEW AD
And like in telco, there may also be a looming shake up in the airline industry.
Competition is heating up because of Philippine Airlines’ new radical campaign, #FlyTheWayYouDeserve, which —though not explicitly — takes a swipe at budget airlines Cebu Pacific.
I saw its teaser on a billboard in Guadalupe last week on my way home so I clicked the video on YouTube.
The video, which runs for just about two minutes, highlights the experience of a passenger who first flies on a budget airline and then on a PAL flight.
The differences are stark and telling – cramped seats, less luggage space and no food on the budget airline. The opposite is what travellers can enjoy on a PAL flight.
In the ad, the budget airlines’ flight attendant wore a uniform that closely resembled the shirts of Cebu Pacific’s FAs.
PAL’s message: full-service flights at surprisingly affordable fares. The ad is punchy and as of this writing, already has 1.64 million views.
Will Cebu Pacific launch a counter attack:?
CebuPac was reportedly hurt by the ad, so goes the talk in the grapevine.
But when I asked the charming and amiable Lance Gokongwei, the president of Cebu Pacific, if his company is going to launch a “counter attack,” he simply highlighted the company’s consistently positive messages.
“If you notice the Cebu Pacific ads, they have a certain virality and positivity. We are sharing positive messages about the benefits of travel and introducing new experiences... We are consistent with our brand ethos which is serving our Filipino consumers,” he said.
With or without that ad, anyone who has traveled on a budget airline would know the difference. But at least people can now go places for less.
I’m not a discriminating traveler. I’ve taken third world trains, a bus filled with gypsies, a ferry bursting at the seams and a fast craft where the pungent smell of durian wafted in the air.
But there was a time when a red eye flight on a budget airline turned out to be worse that I expected. The gates were changed three times, the flight was delayed, and the row was very cramped.
Indeed, on a budget airline you will get what you pay for. Now if you choose to fly on a premium airline, you expect nothing but the best.
But whichever type of airlines you take, if it’s not your lucky day, you may end up getting less than what you paid for.