EasyCall enters into broadband wireless services

MANILA, Philippines - EasyCall Communications Phils. Inc. (ECP) is set to join the growing number of telecommunications companies providing broadband wireless services.

ECP general manager Renato Vicente Martinez said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has issued a provisional authority to the company to provide broadband wireless access (BWA) services and has been  assigned 15MHz of frequency within the 3.4-GHz range.

“The company shall now commence its plans to provide broadband wireless services within the next few months,” he said.

Since the closure of the paging business in 2002 as a result of the development of short messaging service of cellular phone companies, the company engaged in the contact center outsourcing business and information technology-related business. ECP had no operating activities in 2008 and 2007.

In July 1999, ECP acquired the call center business of Siemens, which included a major fastfood restaurant chain as its first order-taking call center client. However, in 2002, ECP decided to completely shut down its paging operations as its subscriber base dropped to a level not anymore sufficient to cover direct costs.

ECP also eventually terminated its last client for the local call center operations in 2004 because of the low contribution margin, which was insufficient to cover fixed overhead costs.

The company’s existing products and services in the call center and Internet businesses are carried out through its subsidiaries and affiliates. Its contact center, e-Performax Contact Centers Corp., handles customer service, outbound and verification services. The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, EasyCall e-Services Inc. (e-Serve), offers Internet services such as dial-up access, dedicated dial-up, leased line, web business solutions and server co-location.

For the first quarter of 2010, ECP generated a net income of P320,000, compared to the P680,000 net loss in the same period last year. The 147 percent increase was primarily due the decrease in general and administrative expenses aside from additional revenues earned for IP-based telephone system rentals.

Another contributor is the equity in net earnings in ePerformax International which was reduced from a loss of P230,000  to P20,000  this year.

ECP generated P1.1 million in revenues while subsidiary e-Serve recorded P 3.19 million in service revenues, a decrease of 13 percent compared to last year’s level of P3.68 million.

The Internet segment’s bottom line performance decreased to P330,000 in net income, compared to P630,000 last year.

Also in the first quarter, the company’s consolidated service income increased to P4.4 million compared to P3.68 million last year. Officials said the 20 percent increase can be mainly attributed to additional IP-based telephony revenues that the company has offered to its member companies. The company’s revenue was generated through its own operations of P1.21 million and from e-Serve of P3.19 million.