Video-on-demand service HOOQ now available in PH

MANILA, Philippines - Asia's newest video on-demand service HOOQ will soon be available in the Philippines, as it announced a partnership with Globe Telecom.

HOOQ is a start-up joint venture between Singtel, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Entertainment which was launched last week.

Under the partnership, Globe subscribers can avail of unlimited online streaming access and an offline viewing option to more than 10,000 movies and TV shows.

Customers can watch Hollywood films from partners Sony and Warner Bros., such as Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Inception and TV series such as Gossip Girl, Friends and Smallville.

Filipino film and TV shows will be available through partnerships with
ABS-CBN, Viva Communications and Regal Entertainment.



"Across the emerging economies, people have amazing stories and love stories. However, a few billion people have no quality way of seeing the best stories from Hollywood or their local market. HOOQ will change that. HOOQ will change the way people in emerging markets consume and enjoy entertainment," said HOOQ Chief Executive Officer Peter G. Bithos, who was previously Globe's chief operating advisor.

"The Philippines is a natural first market for us. Filipinos’ dual love of local and Hollywood content combined with their digital savviness makes the Philippines a perfect place for us to start," he added.

HOOQ's first partnership is with Globe Telecom.

"Our partnership with Globe Telecom, the leader in digital partnerships in the Philippines, helps us bring Philippine customers a premium video service and new form of entertainment that combines the best of Hollywood, Asian and Philippine video content across all devices," Bithos said.

A Nielsen report in 2014 showed more Filipinos were viewing online video content, with 85% watching at least weekly, the second highest in the region.

"To meet their needs, we see the video-on-demand services offered by HOOQ as a critical offering representing the future of the industry. Now that consumers have access to a variety of international and local content, entertainment will now be more personal, and with Globe, this means experiencing it with the highest quality," Ernest Cu, President and CEO of Globe Telecom, said.

Globe Telecom will provide its customers with the ability to download HOOQ, which will soon be available to customers on a plan-based service for P199 per month. It will also be offered as a bundled service with the telco’s GoSURF and Tattoo broadband services.

After the Philippine launch, HOOQ will be rolled out across Asia soon.

The service will also be accessible to all customers in the Philippines through its website – http://HOOQ.tv. Through HOOQ.tv, customers can watch videos of their choice and pay for the subscription by credit card.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Globe extends free Facebook service

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom announced on Tuesday that it is extending its free Facebook promo offer until April 24.

The free service, which was launched in October last year, allows Globe subscribers to access the social networking site with no data charges.

Globe’s vice president for Mobile Data Services Jenny Granada-Echvarria said the offer was extended “due to the overwhelming response” from subscribers.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently showcased the promo at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, citing the partnership with Globe in connecting more Filipinos to the internet.

Under the promo, Globe users can access Facebook on feature phones and smartphones across all Facebook mobile platforms whether via the Facebook app or Facebook’s mobile site m.facebook.com without charges.

Customers are also notified if they will incur data charges once a link that leads out of Facebook is clicked to prevent “bill shock.”

To view content outside Facebook, prepaid users with insufficient load can also “loan” a 10MB data plan for only P10, which will be deducted on their succeeding top-up.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Globe subscribers get free Facebook access

MANILA, Philippines – Subscribers of Globe Telecom will be able to access social networking site Facebook for free on mobile phones until January.

The collaboration between Globe and Facebook was announced Monday night by Globe CEO and president Ernest Cu and Chris Daniels, vice president of partnerships at Facebook.

Cu said the partnership aims to break “barriers” that keep millions of Filipinos from accessing Facebook on their mobile phones, which include not having enough prepaid credits.

“Globe has solved all these problems because for an initial three months, Facebook will be free to users of Globe in the Philippines,” Cu said during the launch.




Globe and TM subscribers with smartphones and feature phones can access the Facebook app or m.facebook.com for free starting October 31, 2013 without the need for Wi-Fi or a data plan.

Aside from the free service, users who wish to access content outside Facebook will be notified if they will incur data charges. The user can avail of the one-click registration to a data plan to continue browsing.

Those without prepaid load can also access content outside Facebook by “loaning” P10 worth of load, which will be deducted on their next top-up.

The customer experience innovations eliminate billshock or “nakaw load.”

“What Globe is launching is not just free Facebook for three months, but we’re launching a customer experience that has been designed end-to-end trying to overcome key fears,” said Peter Bithos, Globe’s senior advisor for consumer business.

Daniels said there is a big opportunity in the Philippines, which currently ranks 8th in the world in Facebook users, with an estimated 30 million people owning accounts.

“Philippines to us creates an enormous opportunity to connect to more people. There are a hundred million people in the Philippines and only about 30 million of them access the internet every month, so we need to connect more people there,” said Daniels.

Daniels added that the partnership with Globe was forged to connect to its 36 million subscribers.

“We found in Globe a partner who is at the leading edge of innovative companies and is willing to make it happen and we are very excited to bring free Facebook to Globe’s 36 million customers in the Philippines,” he said.

There are over a billion Facebook users worldwide. In the third quarter of 2013, Facebook dominated social log-ins and was used more than other platforms like Google, Yahoo and Twitter.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com