Digitel makes 8 million subscriber mark

By the end of 2008, SUN Cellular broke the 8M subscriber mark. To be exact, they report 8,154,202 subscribers from the end of the year.

Here are some fun facts from 2008:

Sun Cellular subscribers transmitted 59.72 million text messages daily in the last quarter of 2008; 49.53 million in the third quarter; 49.28 million in the second quarter; and 46.33 million in the first quarter last year. By the end of 2008, Sun Cellular was able to put up 3,230 cellular sites, while its network coverage in 130 cities stood at 95.58 percent and 85 percent in 69 provinces.

DMPI usually sets aside about $300 million every year to finance its 3G (third-generation) mobile business, expand broadband service and increase cellular sites, Digitel president and chief executive officer James Go was earlier quoted as saying.

Congratulations SUN!

Google Keyword Tool Search

Was doing some searching with Google Keyword Tool. Three most popular keywords for SUN are listed above. I'm not too sure about this -- but for keyword search, the fact that the word "problems" or anything in the pejorative do not appear on search, does it mean that the complaints are slowly moving away? :)

SUN Cellular UNLIMITED on Friendster

Oh my! The things you find these days. 2007 you say? Well, add them up if you're on Friendster.

Digitel / SUN is also on Facebook and their admin is a friend of mine from way back.

SUN Cellular Broadband

I've been hearing a lot of good things with regards to the SUN Cellular broadband service. Thus far, when you mention SMART or Globe's wireless broadband service, you get mixed reactions (often in the negative) with performances that vary based on your location. Somehow, SUN's wireless service seems to be delivering.

I just hope it's a real product. You know what I mean. When we talk of brand authenticity, we're looking at a SUN broadband service that's good not just because it's new. I want to fast forward to several months from now and see whether I can gain the same feedback on how allegedly fast the service is.

Retraining the CSR

When reading about complaints coming through about SUN Cellular, I noticed that the bulk of the dates "date" back to circa 2006 - 2007. These have to do mostly with the signal and CSR's.

What this means? I think there's been loads of improvement in their service this 2008 compared to what people experience in 2006-2007. (Yay SUN!)

A tip: it seems that a significant bulk of the complaints come from attitudes and behaviors of customer service reps and irate customer calls. Since SUN doesn't have immediate control over the signal strength in certain areas, then it isn't a problem - but something they can deal with in the "long run."

What they should deal with in the short run - immediately - is retraining their CSR's to become more emphatic with consumer calls. Look, we're not all perfect, and we all acknowledge that telcos as a public service can have very sensitive repercussions. But any business should be able to address these problems with finesse and empathy.

Just do a search for "SUN cellular CSR stories" and you'll see what I mean. Out of every 7 stories I read, only one is positive. CSR retraining is something they can address almost immediately. Managers should be able to show these CSR's the repercussions that spread through the Internet as well. Handling irate customers can always lead to bringing out the worst in people, thus we be careful.

But, congratulations SUN for the improved service in 2008.

15 Minutes

SUN Cellular signal dependent on ... well, signal. Not the phone

Again, the "15 minute" hazard with SUN calls

Daily Links: SUN Horror Stories

Good morning Manila! Here's a listing of a few horror stories from various parts of the Philippine Internet on the service of this blog's niche:

SUN Cellular branch head tells customer "Ricko" that it's his fault

"The worst decision I made in my life"

Can't talk to SUN customer rep because of bad SUN signal :(

The road to perdition: NTC approves unlimited text despite warnings