Sky Internet VoIP - Super Over …

Sky Internet has a service called Sky Internet VoIP launched two months ago in partnership with BayanTel. Interesting how all these companies are opening all sorts of services around VoIP. Ah, we like this!

Here are some of the important info on the print ad:

* for a monthly fee of P499, you get 100 minutes of IDD calls to “top countries”. Top countries include the US, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei.
* Other packages include P999 (300 minutes IDD), P1,499 (500 minutes IDD).
* Excess usage above the free minutes will be charged from US$ 0.10/min to US$0.19/ min depending on the country you’re calling.
* NDD calls to landlines are at P4/min while calls to cellphones are P6.50 / min.
* There’s an installation fee of P2,999. The font on that part of the advertisement was sooooo small, I swear, I needed to turn on my bionic man magnifying eyes powers to read it. The P2,999 installation fee includes a “FREE” Cisco broadband router. Errrr… “Free”, right.

I called their hotline (4138884) to inquire further. This is what I gathered:

* Applicants must have a separate DSL subscription to avail of Sky Internet VoIP. It doesn’t matter if it’s a DSL subscription from PLDT, Globe or BayanTel.
* Application requirements: Proof of Billing, ID and application form
* Lock-in period: 1 year
* During installation, SkyInternet will connect a “Free” Cisco broadband router and make additional configurations on your PC.
* You will also need an extra telephone handset that you will connect to the Cisco router.
* Within 48 hours of the installation of the router, expect a call from BayanTel. They will assign a telephone number for your Sky Internet VoIP account.
* You’ll then be able to make calls abroad and even receive calls using the assigned BayanTel number.
* I hear you don’t need to power-up your PC to make those VoIP calls.

Interesting, huh?

I was trying to extract information from Jenny Gonzales of the BayanTel hotline, hoping to get a figure on number of subscribers so far. No firm figure yet, your guess is as good as mine. My guess: less than 500 after 3 months. Guess lang.

What’s happening? With a DSL line, you’ll have your DSL telephone and an Internet connection. When you add SkyInternet VoIP, you’ll have another telephone line for IDD calls. Isn’t this becoming a broadband overload? And a monthly bill overload too!

I don’t see many people taking on a superfluous VoIP subscription when they already have a DSL connection. I think it’s just super over…

ka edong

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