PLDT Announces A Decade-Long Partnership With Peoplelink For The Benefit of Filipino Seafarers

When seafarers are deployed for voyage, the ability to stay connected—whether with one’s manning agency or loved ones back home—is crucial. With their days composed of mission-critical tasks, the last thing they need to worry about is the ability to communicate.

Still, Filipino seafarers, who account for about 30 percent of the global maritime force at more than
400,000, are no exception to this problem.

“We really wanted to address [the] communications problem of our seafarers. When they go out at sea for prolonged periods of time, sometimes they don’t have signal. And when that happens, their SIM cards that have ran out of load will expire.”  -Norman Carcellar, president of Peoplelink Inc., a service specialist of the Magsaysay Group of Companies that provides connectivity solutions for the shipping and manning industry.

With such issue in mind, Peoplelink sought the help of PLDT Enterprise, the business-to-business arm of the country’s leading ICT and digital services provider. In turn, the latter provided its Smart Bizload platform, a web-based credit portal that enables companies to efficiently load and manage budgeted mobile credits for their employees.

“Our partnership with Peoplelink actually began almost a decade ago, when we provided their seafarers with free SIM packets that granted them 200 pesos worth of monthly e-load. Today, we are delighted to see how this partnership has grown with the provision of our Smart Bizload solution. Now that the loading of their credits is automated, both seafarers and management no longer have to worry about communication.” -FVP & Head of PLDT ALPHA Vic Tria

The tie-up has, in part, helped the Magsaysay Group bag several awards – including the Lloyd’s List Asia Innovation Award and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council Corporate Social Responsibility Award.

“We at PLDT Enterprise are always looking for ways to uplift the condition of our fellow countrymen, most especially our modern-day heroes—the OFWs, the seafarers–those who journey out to provide our country with the best service. It is with great pride that we are able to fortify their work with solutions that best cater to their needs.” -SVP & Head of PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups Jovy Hernandez

Carcellar highlights that its partnership with PLDT has allowed it to reinvent its everyday operations, most especially in the advent of disruption and competition.

He encapsulates the success of the partnership best when he says, “This spirit of innovation in our company is what sets us apart… We are able to dream and have this constant influx of ideas and we are confident that PLDT-Smart will always be there to help us bring those ideas to reality.”