Press Release
Vodafone-Smart partnership
Smart to offer new mobile services with global telco leader
Photo shows members of the Vodafone online team with Smart's Joy Sanchez, Mellissa Limcaoco
and Bhrein Salazar during one of the Smart-Vodafone transformation activities. The country’s leading wireless services provider has joined forces with one of the world’s largest mobile communications companies to provide subscribers with innovative mobile and data services, as well as a superior customer experience.
As the first and only partner of Vodafone in the Philippines, Smart Communications, Inc. now has access to the telecom giant’s vast pool of knowledge and resources, including cutting-edge information technology systems and best practices in roaming, marketing, and customer value management.
Smart and Vodafone will also enter a series of collaborations, which may include the sharing of rollout strategies for LTE (Long Term Evolution) and green networks.
“We are proud to be the preferred partner of Vodafone in the Philippines, as we work together to meet the growing demand among multinational businesses for sophisticated voice, data and roaming solutions within and beyond the Asia Pacific region,” said Smart International and Carrier Business Division Head Alex Caeg, who is also Deputy Chairman of the Conexus Mobile Alliance Board.
Game-changing initiatives
According to Smart International Roaming Business and Alliances Head Mary Alice Ramos, Smart’s collaboration with Vodafone will make possible game-changing initiatives in the areas of customer service, e-services, roaming offerings, among others.
“Through our participation in the Conexus alliance, Smart customers have been first in the region to enjoy a daily data rate of only US$10 when roaming on Conexus member networks,” Ramos said. “With Smart’s expanded collaboration with both Conexus and Vodafone, we can look forward to more customer-friendly benefits over a larger roaming footprint in the near future,” she added.
Smart Customer Care Head Joy Y. Sanchez said this partnership will enable Smart to provide better online self-care services to subscribers by harnessing Vodafone’s global best practices for both web services and social media.
"This will allow better customer experience in serving the evolving demands of our subscribers," she said.
“We are fully committed to developing a long-lasting relationship with our customers. This commitment is being reinforced by the way we communicate with our customers online. Our partnership with Vodafone enables us to leverage off the combined years of online experience of both Smart and Vodafone globally,” said Smart Digital Media Head Mellissa B. Limcaoco.
This collaboration is made possible by the strategic partnership between Vodafone and Conexus, one of Asia’s largest mobile alliances which counts Smart and other regional telecom leaders like Japan’s NTT Docomo, Singapore’s StarHub, and Hong Kong’s Hutchison Telecommunications as active members.
The data-roaming reach of Conexus members, which have a combined customer base of 320 million, has now expanded from 10 Asian markets to more than 30 markets in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa.
Partnership kick-off
Since their partnership took effect in January of this year, Smart and Vodafone have engaged in a workshop series at the former’s headquarters in Makati City, where topics like customer care, social media, and online marketing were discussed. The training sessions, held from February 14 to 16, 2012, were conducted by Vodafone’s online team, and had Smart’s senior management and online customer management team, among others, as participants.
More workshops, online seminars, as well as technical training and support are expected in the coming months.
The partnership will help Smart provide its multinational corporate subscribers with enhanced network coverage, harmonized roaming rates across multiple countries and improved cost-efficiency.
Furthermore, Smart’s multinational corporate subscribers will be given access to selected resources, products, and services of the Vodafone Global Enterprise, which serves 140 multinational companies based in the Asia Pacific and 435 more customers operating in the region.
About Conexus Mobile Alliance
Established in April 2006, the Conexus Mobile Alliance seeks to develop and enhance international roaming and corporate mobile services for greater convenience and ease of use for its members' customers. From a combined customer base of 100 million five years ago, Conexus has grown to over 320 million customers. Together, the alliance will continue to expand global reach and further support diverse customer requirements through collaboration and knowledge-sharing.
About Vodafone
Vodafone is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies by revenue with approximately 398 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as of 31 December 2011. Vodafone currently has equity interests in over 30 countries across five continents and more than 40 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.vodafone.com/.
About Smart
Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is the Philippines' leading wireless services provider with 47.7 million subscribers on its GSM network as of end-September 2011. Smart has built a reputation for innovation, having introduced world-first wireless data services, such as Smart Money, Smart Load, Smart Padala and the Netphone. Smart also offers 3G and HSPA services. Its Smart Link service provides communications to the global maritime industry. Smart Broadband, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, offers a wireless broadband service, Smart BRO, with about 1.5 million subscribers as of end-June 2011. Smart is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Philippines' leading telecommunications carrier, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. For more information, visit http://www.smart.com.ph/.
