Wednesday, September 21, 2011

# 34 UNLI

perhaps the most overused word in recent times in our part of the world.

we like to play around with simple english words, not that we desecrate the word. no, we just have this deep-seated need to create our own term, true to our ingenious nature. there is nothing cryptic about the word as it is clearly a take-off from 'unlimited.'  it is the telecom version of the 'eat all you can' craze of the restaurant industry.

texting is big in the philippines.  very big.  raking-in the-millions kind of  ginormous for the network providers.  we rank high in a list of countries with the most number of text users.  it is said that texting is the national pastime and textology is the new subject in the curriculum.  in other countries, subscribers have plans.  in the philippines, plan holders are a minority. not too many people can afford to subscribe to monthly plans.  in an effort to broaden their network reach, telecom companies invested in the prepaid brand. this caters to a huge faction of the populace singled out as captive market.  phone credits, or load as it is referred to, are added whenever it is needed. not surprisingly, it is needed all the time. in a country where majority of the labor force are minimum wage earners, priorities can go haywire when one is a heavy cellphone (text or call) user.  students who get through each day on a daily allowance spend a huge chunk of it for load.

major telecommunication networks try to outdo each other by offering UNLI promos for as low as PHP25 or  60 cents in US money.  the promo is valid for a day. of course, the networks all claim they started this UNLI mania.

no passing fancy, this UNLI phenomenon is.  designed to cater to the prepaid subscriber base, it is now being offered to postpaid clients. 

cutthroat competition does have its advantages.  with the network war in full blast, consumers are having a field day. time was when calling someone on a cellphone was prohibitive. many a time, one would glance at her watch to surreptitiously (lest someone is looking) check  if  the one minute mark has been breached.  with 20 seconds to go, one blabbers away in a rush to get off the phone before another minute's charge starts ticking. did the other party understand what was being said?  one never knows. 

an endless text exchange, a leisurely chat with someone on the phone.... UNLI !! isn't that awesome? 

3 comments:

  1. Without a doubt, LOVE my text exchanges that do seem endless. In fact just got done with one from my number one fan in Cebu-my running student/partner/trainer :) They are without question the highlight of my day!

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  2. Oh, by the way, I text with two hands pa :)

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  3. Hehe, you used all Globe Smart and Sun

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