Manila, Philippines – Local telecommunication service provider Converge has announced a partnership with mobile phone and gadget retailer TL Sales and Management Services Inc. (TLSMS) to expand its distribution network, therefore expanding the provider’s retail network reach across 200 stores nationwide.

TLSMS has an expansive footprint in malls nationwide under the brand names Cellboy, Gaming Grounds, Cell Time, Games & Gadgets, Gadget Plus, BOMA Tech, and Cyber Center. These gadget stores are widely available in malls such as SM (in SM Cyberzones) and Ayala Malls.

Jesus C. Romero, chief operations officer at Converge ICT, said, “We are working hard to expand our channels at the moment. We’ve been looking at partners with a wide reach, to get as many customers as we can and we think we’ve found the right partner in TLSMS.”

He added, “Through their vast network of stores under their seven brands, which, by the way, are present in the country’s biggest malls, we will be able to bring our world-class fiber broadband connection even closer to customers.”

Meanwhile, Alvin Chu Teng, CEO at TLSMS, commented, “At the core of our partnership with Converge is a shared vision to empower Filipinos through technology. As a retailer, we offer more than just a mobile device; we offer a solution to enhance and simplify their digital lives. With this opportunity to sell Converge products and services, we are going a step further in this mission.”

Manila, Philippines – In an effort to bring technology-driven transformation to the scene, Converge ICT Solutions recently announced a strategic collaboration with Salesforce, a global technology company and AI customer relationship management platform, enhancing customer experiences and operational efficiency in the Philippines.

In this collaboration, the two are geared towards the establishment of the first generative AI contact centre, leveraging Salesforce’s generative AI solutions and bringing improvements in efficiency, scalability, and data-driven insights.

Converge will harness the power of predictive and generative AI through Salesforce’s Einstein and Einstein 1 Platform, specifically designed to revolutionise operational efficiency and digital experiences for both residential and enterprise customers.

Salesforce’s Einstein 1 Platform, as the first predictive and generative AI platform on a CRM, will also enable Converge to leverage Einstein Bots for streamlined requests, present relevant service replies for agent-assisted support, and provide real-time analytics, including predicted churn for each customer profile. It is also set to employ Salesforce’s Service Cloud, Field Service, and MuleSoft.

With Field Service, Converge customers are also offered greater transparency, expanding their use of MuleSoft for further integration and connecting data across key business systems.

Talking about the project, Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager at Salesforce ASEAN, said, “This expanded relationship represents the next step in our journey of transforming customer experiences with Converge. Our trusted AI-powered solutions will help Converge deliver more efficient and personalised experiences to customers across all touchpoints.”

“We’re excited to work closely with an industry leader like Converge to harness the power of generative AI in one of the first-of-its kind contact centres in the Philippines,” he added.

Jesus C. Romero, chief operations officer at Converge, also shared, “We have the best-in-class network; now we are leveraging the most modern technology to give the best customer experience to our more than 2 million subscribers.”

“We paved the way for the more meaningful use of AI in our network operations (in our back-end), and now we are embedding this into our customer-facing operations in the customer experience. We are committed to innovating in every aspect of our business to better serve the broadband needs of our customers,” he concluded.

The new contact centre is scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2024, aiming to reduce costs, optimise productivity, and enhance the speed and quality of customer service resolution at every touchpoint. This is consistent with Converge’s commitment to digitise support channels and promote self-service.

Singapore – Converge ICT Singapore, the international unit of Philippine fiber broadband and technology solutions provider Converge ICT Solutions is now fully geared up to provide service to enterprise customers outside the Philippines.

And with this continuous growth and expansion, Converge appoints technology sales strategist Victor Koh to lead Converse SG as its general manager and head of international and wholesale sales

In his new role, Koh will be responsible for managing the company’s operations while driving revenue growth by extending connectivity services and fiber optic capacity to international markets.

Koh carries with him over 30 years of expertise in the information technology and telecommunications industries. He has a proven track record of developing strategies for penetrating new markets.

“Converge has a good opportunity to develop a strong presence in the international carrier space. I’m excited to fulfill my role and support Converge to become the partner of choice for regional international carriers especially as the market becomes more competitive in broadband services,” Koh said.

Converge attained a Facilities-Based Operations (FBO) Licence in Singapore this year. The license allows the company to deploy telecommunications infrastructure and provide connectivity services to wholesale and enterprise customers in the region.

“We realize the opportunities presented by wholesale as a driver for our enterprise business, and Converge will continue to capitalize on that,” said Dennis Anthony Uy, CEO and co-founder of Converge

“Converge SG stands ready to enable telecommunication firms, carriers, cable companies, and other businesses in delivering intra-Asia and Trans-Pacific connectivity capabilities for their operations,” he added. 

Through its global subsidiary, Converge offers a variety of international connectivity services, such as Ethernet-International Private Line (E-IPL) service, Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) service, and submarine cable capacities, among others.

Grace Uy, president and co-founder of Converge, said, “Converge SG was built on the premise of serving the wholesale needs of international carriers, ISPs and telecommunication firms. We hope to finally capture various growth opportunities for the Wholesale business.”

The fiber broadband provider also continues to expand its networks as it participates in the Bifrost Cable System and the South-East Asia Hainan-Hong Kong Express Cable System (SEA-H2X), which are both set to be operational by next year. 

“With our investments in our international broadband network, we are ready to service and enable the growth of business clients in the region,” Converge SEVP and COO Jesus Romero shared. 

Converge now operates one of the largest international networks in the country with points of presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States.

Juliana “Jay-Anne” Reina Encarnado, the vice president and head of corporate communications and public relations at Converge ICT Solutions, is one of the winners of ‘Empowered Women in Tech’. The recognition initiative, Empowered Women Awards 2023, is MARKETECH APAC’s inaugural effort in recognising outstanding female leaders in the industry. 

Encarnado started off her career with a position with the Philippines’ Department of Finance before moving to a role in Aboitiz Transport System in 2010. She was also with telco giant PLDT for over six years then moved to steel company SteelAsia. She had a brief stint with the digital and PR agency Stratworks before ending up in her current senior position at Converge.

How her leadership style led to building a leading ISP fiber broadband service in the Philippines

As one of the leading Internet service providers (ISPs) in the Philippines that offer fiber broadband service, Converge ICT Solutions needs to maintain its high market position by offering affordable and unlimited (fibre-based connectivity at price points accessible to the wide market.

For Jay-Anne, this was a huge undertaking, considering the fact that the ISP only assumed a corporate communications and public relations function in late 2020. Amid this meteoric rise, the company established a reputation as a cut above the rest – a new kid on the block with something valuable to offer. This was the prevailing message of the company from 2020 and well into 2022, and it was received warmly by the public, especially the media. 

Under her leadership, Converge ranked second among top competitors in the industry in terms of media exposure (as measured by article count). This translates to a 30% share of media exposure among four brands. This is indicative of the value the Philippine media gives to the brand and its relevance in current affairs. 

Moreover, it is now appealing to a wider, mass-appeal image as it introduces fiber prepaid products for developing and emerging markets. Since it is targeting new addressable markets, the company’s corporate image and messaging has changed as well.

A diverse leadership experience journey, from political communication to corporate leadership

On a day-to-day basis, Jay-Anne provides direction in brand-building campaigns and executions, overseeing the process from creation to implementation. She is especially adept in managing the editorial content of the department, always ensuring the key messages remain consistent and intact in all channels of communication, including in social media. 

Through strategic decision-making and with a collaborative mindset, she leads the Converge team in sound corporate image-building and reputation management, as well as fostering strong stakeholder relationships, particularly with media.

Her vision of serving the unserved and underserved communities has been evident in her previous communications consultancy work with high-profile public officials including Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III, former Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) Chief Operating Officer Mark Lapid, and former Finance Secretary Gary Teves.

With that, she has a deep understanding of monetary and fiscal issues and the macroeconomy in general, as well as the political environment. Moreover, she is familiar with the workings of various media, having been a reporter for print, television and newswires and has an extensive network in the local and foreign media in the Philippines. 

In summary, her expertise lies in handling communication crises, providing crucial insight and advice to top management on responding to developments and news involving the company. 

Juggling advocacies for marginalised and women voices on top of corporate leadership

In her official senior leadership capacity, Jay-anne has extended assistance to marginalised communities and groups. With the ‘Community Relations’ unit under her supervision, the department has led activities in support of environmental, education, and internet safety causes.

Some of those advocacy initiatives include those concerning environmental rehabilitation, charity assistance, as well as connectivity solutions and gadget provisions. All of these efforts were made in consonance with Converge’s sustainability agenda and were executed with careful consideration of the needs of the vulnerable communities. 

Meanwhile, she has also initiated a mentorship program in Converge that aims to give a bigger voice to women and an opportunity for career advancement. Despite in its early stages, key women executives in Converge have already conducted a preparatory meeting to flesh out the guidelines of the woman-to-woman mentorship program.

She has also devoted time and effort to shed light on women’s issues in her column for leading Philippine business daily, The BusinessMirror. Entitled ‘Usaping Babae’ (‘Women Talks’), the column provided insightful commentary on women’s plights, particularly on women rights violations and also gave space for consumer-related concerns.

For Jay-anne, such initiatives are significant for women to gain a stronger foothold, especially in a field such as ICT that is decidedly male-dominated. This program is seen to open doors for women in ICT and equip them with not just technical but leadership skills needed to adapt to the changing needs of the ICT workplace.

“Women get things done. Whether in the workplace or at home, women are active agents of action and should be treated as such. When the situation calls for it, we take things in our own hands and we get things done,” she said.

Aside from Jay-Anne, check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list. 

Manila, Philippines – As more and more telco users vent out online in regards to issues with their communication providers, the Internet has now become a new hub for telco players to create critical data-driven decisions in improving their services, new report from media intelligence and insights business Isentia.

The report had uncovered customer sentiments on social media and how these experiences from the services provided by Philippine ISPs, fold into every Filipino’s digital consumer journey. 

Isentia noted that netizens frequently take their frustrations to the comments section of Facebook Pages to express opinions and share their user experience. Once posted, these comments, especially those like complaints, can be picked up by other consumers and spread like wildfire. 

Taking for instance telco provider PLDT, when they issued an advisory that its users may experience slow or intermittent internet services and emerged as the top trending topic for that day, generating negative tweets from subscribers. While PLDT responded with a statement justifying the quality of internet services that day, it could not temper further unfavourable discussions surrounding the incident.

Isentia also noted that customers also complain about how telcos like Globe resort to ‘automated replies’ instead of immediate action from the company. Criticisms on how ‘repetitive’ and ‘insulting’ the templated reply saying, ‘We don’t want you to feel that way…’ dominated the discussions.

“Internet access has been and will continue to be a basic necessity in every household. But, from the perspective of many, these internet service providers are struggling to consistently satisfy its customers’ needs. From sluggish connection speed to poor customer service, a lot are voicing out their complaints publicly where everyone can see the quality of service that they provide,” said Francis Calucin, insights analyst at Isentia.

Despite efforts from local telco players to improve their marketing strategies, netizens often have mixed to negative views about them. For instance, many netizens have complained about telco Smart Communications that they don’t need a foreign ambassador or endorser but instead improve first on their telco services, following the telco’s announcement of Hollywood actor Chris Evans as one of its newest endorsers, aside from the rise of Korean drama stars and pop stars as well taking helm as brand ambassadors as well.

Another example is how netizens often have mixed thoughts about service provider CONVERGE’s use of memes, which was met with some harbored unfavourable comments while others see the strategy of injecting memes in its content producing a significant traction for the brand to the delight of other netizens.

Amid the bad light to the local telco players, Filipino netizens are inclined to switch networks, specifically with the new player DITO Telecommunications. Despite early approval of the franchise, the telco isn’t also safe from criticisms, such as complaints on roll-out and delivery of their SIM cards necessary for their services to work. In addition, Isentia also noted that they have recorded claims that certain high-end phones were the only ones compatible with DITO’s mobile data services, as well as fears from the public that the telco is allegedly a medium for China to spy, risking the security and privacy of Filipinos.

“Since the pandemic, telco companies have had to step up their game. In the Philippines, they were directed by the President himself to amp up their services. This study looks into conversations on the top telco industry players and dabbles on one of the newer ones who raked in hundreds of thousands of buzz in a single month. Companies can leverage trendspotting studies like this to harvest and pinpoint relevant insights and themes from organic conversations about their services and industry,” said Victoria Lazo, insights manager at Isentia Philippines.

Isentia recommended in its report that companies need to invest more in improving their messaging by streamlining and personalising conversations and responding to customer issues. This is a source of rabid responses from users that could greatly reflect and affect the image and reputation of a brand. Also, telco companies can migrate discussions to more private avenues – SMS, private messages, and emails – to address their concerns and avoid being bombarded with comments of unfavourable nature.

They also noted that telcos can promote an arena of competitiveness to cause market disruption. Telco companies can explore throwing in deals and freebies to cascade the value for money message, in response to embracing regulation and competition.

In regards to marketing, Isentia recommends that local personas can work better. Brands can tap multiple personalities across their campaigns and do not have to stick to just one throughout an entire period. Messaging and creativity of the promotion are vital points to be considered. The public now craves more organic promotions/marketing efforts over traditional ones, which will help appeal to the younger generations.

“Having a data-driven approach in finding out what competitors or the industry as a whole has been doing will help brands close in performance gaps and identify key areas they can work on to boost their growth. Trendspotting reports such as this aim to encourage brands to look outside of their business and understand the industry better so they can formulate informed strategies and come up with relevant initiatives,” Kate Dudang, insights manager at Isentia Philippines, stated.