Philippine National Red Cross (SMS or G-CASH)

RED <amount> to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart)

DONATE <amount> <4-digit M-PIN> REDCROSS to 2882

TXTPower
Globe GCash: 0917-9751092
Smart Money: 5577-5144-1866-7103

All donations coursed through TXTPower will be sent to the Philippine National Red Cross.

The panel agreed to conduct more hearings and approved the motion of Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez to reconsider the approval of Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson’s House bill 6625.

TxtPower told the panel that since the last meeting on Sept. 8, it “did not provide the public, including oppositors, an opportunity to attend and be heard.”

The Cellphone Owners and Users of the Philippines (COUP) had also filed a lawsuit,

“The class suit is filed in order to prevent temporarily, and later on permanently, the illegal, prohibitive and unconstitutional imposition of an excise tax on SMS and overseas calls.” the lawsuit claimed.

There was also an online protest created by OFWs called the No to Text Tax! This online campaign in Facebook was led by Susan Ople, president of the Ople Policy Center; Jun Aguilar, a representative from the Filipino Migrant Workers’ Group; and Lito Soriano of LBS e-Recruitment Solutions. The campaign has garnered more than a thousand supporters just 3 days after its creation.

Antique Rep. Exequiel Javier said the committee agreed to a proposed tax on text without the “no pass-on provision” being insisted by Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson. The no pass-on provision (House bill 6625) would prevent telecommunication firms from passing the tax on to consumers.

“It’s very hard to put a no pass-on provision because it is an indirect tax. [A tax is part of the] cost of doing business. You have to pass it on otherwise the business will be losing,” Javier said.

Speaker Prospero Nograles said in a text message to reporters,

“It is very clear that based on our previous hearings, there is no need to increase the cost of the short messaging system service of our telcos because the P1 per text that is already being charged from consumers is more than enough to cover the five-centavo tax for each text,”

Nograles also said that the real cost of sending each text message was only 25 centavos.

“By expanding the scope of our services to 2G handsets, more consumers among the estimated 14 to 16 million Filipino mobile phone users will enjoy the competitive rates offered by our network,” says Red Mobile Product Manager Darvin Sy Su.

Red Mobile is using the same telecommunication infrastructures and technology of SMART. This means that Red Mobile will be powered by 8, 477 cellsites.

Everyday, 200 studio audiences, called as Bingoers, will play and compete against the Solo Studio contestatant. The Bingoers can win 50,000 pesos for every game, while the Solo Studio contestant can win up to 1 million pesos. Home viewers will also have a chance to play either as Home Player or Text Player and can win 200,000 pesos.

To join as texter, text

PBN <last name>,<first name>/<age>/<gender>/<address> to 2366

P2.50/txt for Globe, TM,  Smart, Talk and Text
P2/txt for Sun Cellular

This SMS rate applies to 20 countries namely: USA, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Macau, Japan, Qatar, Brunei, Guam, Hawaii, Oman, Cayman Island, Cyprus, Turkey, Northern Marianas Island, Jamaica, Bahamas & Puerto Rico.

Image souce: Promdi Tarlac

The Bishop of Modena, Benito Cocchi, said that ‘No SMS for Lent’ was an ideal way for ‘young people to detox from the virtual world and get back in touch with themselves.’

Italian laity and clergy have reacted cautiously to the proposals. Some say  abstinence should be a personal matter, and others say that people who need technology to work shouldn’t be asked to do without.

The editor of the Vatican’s official newspaper Osservatore Romano said,

Text messages are an instrument and so by their neutral nature, they cannot be good or bad.

It all depends on how you use them. If text messages are a proper way of communicating I don’t see why we should deprive ourselves of them on Good Friday or any other day.

[source]

TxtCEB allows anyone to get updates on Cebu Pacific’s special flights and promos or book a Cebu Pacific flight through their cellphones (domestic bookings only). To start, here’s how:

For Globe, Touch Mobile subscribers, text

CEB FLIGHT or CEB HELP and send to 2982.

For Smart, Talk N’ Text and Addict Mobile subscribers, text

CEB to 2952

For Sun Cellular subscribers, text

CEB or CEB HELP and send to 2982

Then follow the SMS prompts. It only takes a minimum of 5 SMS messages to book a Cebu Pacific flight. You will be charged a minimal amount per text message received; P2.50 for Globe, Touch Mobile, Smart, Talk ‘N Text and Addict Mobile and P2.00 for Sun Cellular subscribers. Confirmed bookings cannot be paid via SMS. You still have to pay over the counter at any Cebu Pacific ticket office. You will be charged the fare confirmed by txtCEB at the date of ticket purchase.

Tests were conducted last year (Sept. 17 to Oct. 6, 2008) by NTC engineers on three cellular service operators, namely Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, and Sun Cellular to measure the quality of services rendered. They made 2,475 network-to-network calls per operator in 13 Metro Manila cities, as part of the tests.

Three areas were reviewed namely network accessibility (circuit switch), service accessibility (telephony), and call completion rate circuit switch (telephony), to measure the quality of service indicators.

Network accessibility (Circuit Switch). All three got perfect scores.
Globe 100%
Smart 100%
Sun 100%

Service Accessibility (Telephony). Globe got the highest mark.
Globe 97.98%
Smart 96.24%
Sun 83.02%

Call Completion Rate Circuit Switch (Telephony). Globe and Smart tied at 98.55%.
Globe 98.55%
Smart 98.55%
Sun 97.65%

Signal Strength
Smart 91.81%
Globe 86.58%
Sun 84.48%

Signal Quality
Globe 93.79%
Smart 93%
Sun 84.47%

Hand Over Success Rate
Smart 99.03%
Globe 98.27%
Sun 96.72%

Call Set-up Time (based on the 2,475 sample calls)
Globe 97.29%
Smart 95.76%
Sun 80.12%

In terms of blocked and dropped calls, a lower percentage is desirable to ensure higher quality of service and therefore, the operator with a lower percentage was given a higher ranking.

Blocked Calls (based on the 2,475 sample calls). Blocked calls are failed connection to the network due to unavailability of signal.
Globe 49 (1.99%)
Smart 93 (3.79%)
Sun 779 (17.05%)

Dropped Calls (based on the 2,475 sample calls). A call is considered dropped when the signal has been cut just a few seconds upon connection.
Globe 35 (1.42%)
Smart 35 (1.42%)
Sun 48 (1.95%)

Under the NTC’s circular on service performance standards for CMTS, the allowable drop call rate is 5 percent. NTC also noted that blocked and dropped calls are caused by network congestion and system failure.

Greetings (Text Message #182)

May the season of
“Love & Peace”
“Joy & Laughter”
“Care & Sharing”
be with you & your family
always.
MERRY
MERRY
CHRISTMAS!

Inspirational/Religious (Text Message #2532)

I pray
that
häppiness be
ät yöür döör.
Mäy
it
knöck
eärly,
&
leäve
the gift
öf GOD’s peace, love,
joy &
good health behind.
G0d blesS! Meri chrstmas!

Friendship (Text Message #168)

I’ve already
told SANTA
what i want
for CHRISTMAS,

a friend
that will stay
forever.

So if a
fat man
comes
arOund
and
trys to
wrap you
up,

please
cOoperate..Ü

Ascii (Text Message #174)

.;””;. .;””;.
()”” ‘) ‘+, ” ,+’
( ,’o’)”) “+,+”
(,,) )
Just sending a WARM HEART
to say…
Merry Christmas and Enjoy
the holiday! God Bless! :-)

Funny English (Text Message #187)

In this season of
merrymaking & endless
parties, always remember..
“thou shalt not weigh more
than thy refrigerator.”
Merry Christmas & Happy
New Year!! ;-)

Funny Tagalog (Text Message #171)

Meron ka na lamang (6) na
oras na natitira para bumili
ng regalo para kay SENDER’S NAME.

Kung nais malaman kung
ano ang kanyang kahilingan
ngayong pasko, maaring
mag text oh itawag sa mga
ss:

text SENDER’SNAME (space) tanong
(space) petsa kung kelan
ibibigay ang pamasko. At i
send ito sa 0915xxxxxxx.

Taos puso po ni SENDER’S NAME
tatangapin ang inyong mga
regalo.

Merry Christmas to you all!