PhilWeb.Com

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PhilWeb envisioned as the largest chain of one-stop Internet shops

PhilWeb.Com aims to provide Internet access and bring the benefits of a cyber-driven economy to Filipinos in every corner, every hour, everywhere through Cyberworld.

CyberWorld is PhilWeb's one-stop Internet shop, providing affordable high-speed Internet access and a host of other IP-based value-added services. It is envisioned to be the largest chain of Internet shops in the country, within convenient reach of customers.

Through CyberWorld, PhilWeb aims to contribute to the development of globally competitive Filipinos in terms of Internet skills and knowledge, and thus become a pivotal instrument in nation building. According to Villamar, Cyberworld upgrades the concept of the Internet café by offering faster Internet access in comfortable and friendly surroundings.

The Cyberworld Internet shop is designed to be high-tech and cutting edge, yet have warm and friendly feel. Its advanced products and services are matched with high-end customer service standards.

CyberWorld showcases PhilWeb.Com's Internet access services - Zoom Broadband satellite-band Internet access, Zoom dial-up Internet services and Internet games. It also features the Cyber Store, which displays varied Internet appliances and software.

At present, PhilWeb operates company-owned CyberWorld outlets in Makati, Cavite, Davao, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro, with a number of new outlets ready to be opened in the first quarter of 2001. In addition to the company-owned outlets, there are 25 CyberWorlds operated by franchisees.

Indeed, CyberWorld opens new vistas in the Internet world, ushering in a new generation of value-added Internet applications.

PhilWeb.Com - An Internet First Mover

Since its inception in January 2000, PhilWeb Inc. has remained steadfast on being an Internet first mover, taking a giant step forward by building up the infrastructure to connect the local Internet industry to the worldwide web of business opportunities in the entire Internet value chain.

PhilWeb's vision is to provide connectivity tailor-fit to the requirements of its identified market segments. The company thus recently launched Zoom Internet Card, its entry to the pre-paid card market, following a long list of innovative products.

Alex S.Villamar, PhilWeb.Com president, said, "We have done pretty well. We are not always entirely happy with our own performance relative to the high standards we have set for ourselves. I think that would be a continuing paradigm. Surviving as a dotcom and e-business enabler will be more challenging in the Philippines".

He stressed that the company has learned so many important lessons on the dizzying pace of the Internet revolution. A good combination of access, e-business enabling and e-commerce that works with existing industry players rather than competing against them is one of the most important lessons learned.

Pre-paid on the Internet

"We have created the concept of the pre-paid plans, "added Villamar. "Another lesson that we learned this year was that pressures on billing and collection that have battled the telecom industry were even more challenging in the Internet industry. In the telecom industry, subscribers have at most only three choices of local exchange carriers. On the Internet, subscribers have a choice of 300 service providers so they move from one provider to another. And because of the wide array of choices, collections have become a problem for service providers".

PhilWeb.Com envisions a pure pre-paid environment, with the widest coverage of connectivity and the best value-added solutions to its customers. "It does not mean that we will restrict our product offerings to dial-up. We have solutions that will convert all our services to pre-paid. We will be more flexible in offering more pre-paid services precisely because we get the cash right away. We will move broadband to pre-paid by first quarter of next year", Villamar said.

At present, PhilWeb.Com has over 100 subscribers of its own Zoom Broadband, which offers high-speed Internet services via satellite. Zoom Broadband subscribers include small and medium enterprises, Internet cafés, and some ISP's.

PhilWeb has also managed to sign up over 8,000 dial-up post-paid and pre-paid subscribers with an average of 20 hours a month Internet usage time. The pre-paid service was introduced only in October, but the company's pre-paid subscribers grew faster and have already surpassed the number of post-paid customers.

Villamar also revealed that PhilWeb.Com plans to introduce re-loadable pre-paid cards, "We want to become a strong player on the basis of innovativeness," he explained.

And being innovative is to challenge what other service providers have been doing - advertising. PhilWeb.Com chose not to advertise. "Advertising is the best way to sign in a faceless, nameless subscriber who in the end will not pay. We instead selected from top credit card holders of our partner banks, and only go for the top 5,000. We send them pre-approved re-loadable pre-paid cards".

This idea is to take off from the marketing strategy of credit cards. "Subscribers have 10 hours free access and they can reload their cards. Most of older service providers do advertising, we instead select the customers who will pay."

PhilWeb.Com is also focusing on broadband services, not in Metro Manila as what other ISP's are doing, but rather outside Metro Manila. "We are the anti-thesis of what everybody is doing," stressed Villamar.

Evolving users expectations

"If you look at the Internet value chain, the evolution is very simple, "Villamar continued. "Users first want connectivity. And one of the reasons for a very low Internet subscription in the Philippines is due to the high cost of PC's."

And because of that, PhilWeb.Com created the Cyberstation and Cyberworld programs. Today, the company has 25 Cyberworld Internet café franchises. The company has five of its own Cyberworld cafes in Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Cavite, and Makati. Its over 100 Cyberstations - or single PC configurations - are mostly installed in hotels and other establishments nationwide. Users can buy the prepaid cards from any of the Cyberstation establishments and surf the Net through the installed PC's.

"We are addressing the market of about 1.5 million users today that occasionally access the net through the cafes. And there are only about 600,000 to 700,000 Internet subscribers with their own PC's. We have the strategy for both the non-PC and the PC owners, " Villamar stated.

When users already have the access, they start to look for good bandwidth then content and e-commerce available through the Internet. Thus PhilWeb.Com's focus extends beyond access to e-commerce with its soon-to-be launched online international money remittance service, E-padala. The Company recently got a new partner in AboitizOne,Inc.

Through E-padala, PhilWeb.Com will offer online and over the counter money transfer services from anywhere in the world to the Philippines. Under the agreement, AboitizOne will handle all deliveries of remittances to any recipient within the Philippines. PhilWeb.Com's over-the-counter partner in the US is Manila Forwarders, LLC., one of the leading ocean and air cargo consolidators in the world, to expand PhilWeb.Com's over-the-counter points for its E-padala remittance service.

The company is also in partnership with two payment gateways, and three disbursement partners. "With these partnerships, PhilWeb.Com is well on its way to providing speedier and cost-effective alternative to traditional remittances," said Villamar.

Emerging IT Directions

The company has realized that a reliable network infrastructure and quality technical support should be in place for its plans to expand its business landscape. PhilWeb.Com has chosen FPI with its networking and communications subsidiary, WeSolv Open Computing, Inc., to design, install, and implement this critical infrastructure to help run the company's ISP backbone that caters to dial-in users and corporate clients.

"WeSolv is more of a partner in the connectivity and access side of the business. My technical guys claim that they got the best support from WeSolv. Our partnership with WeSolv can be expanded in the future by making the company our reseller of software products that will be bundled with hardware support from WeSolv," Villamar noted.

Bullishness amidst uncertainties

Villamar admitted that the general investor sentiment is being affected by the political climate in the Philippines, not only in terms of generating Internet subscriptions but also in terms of raising capital. "Capital is the fuel of expansion, which has been affected by the political uncertainties".

He quickly pointed out, however, that there is an opportunity if the local market believes the Internet is not an additional service or expense for the company, but rather a means to reinvent some things companies are doing to be more efficient and competitive.

"The opportunity for a value-provider like us is to explore all possibilities of reducing company expenses, to be more efficient, to increase people's productivity, and to have quick access to information that make companies decide quickly on certain business issues," he added. "In this context, it's up to us, the value-providers, to explain to companies why they can save a lot of money by using the Internet as a new business paradigm".

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