MANILA, Philippines?Local telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. seeks to boost its cash flow from the fixed-line phone business?overshadowed by the fast growth of wireless phone usage over the years?with the pioneering offering of an unlimited nationwide landline call service for residential subscribers.

For an additional fixed monthly charge of P250 for post-paid residential landline subscribers, the PLDT ?Call All? bundle provides a second line SIM (PLDT Landline Plus) which can be used in any open line handset, allowing users to make free local calls to any landline number in the same calling area.

Top PLDT officials explained that the service is like having an extension line that the user can bring anywhere in the Philippines and use to call any landline in its home area. The offer thus seeks to edge out the hybrid wireless-landline offerings of major competitors (which offer unlimited calls only within the same coverage area) by providing free calls even when the handset is brought outside the area code of the registered fixed line. This is for as long as the call is made to any landline within its area code.

For instance, a Manila subscriber can bring his wireless extension line to Cebu and call his family or friends in Manila for free. With the additional fee of P250 a month, the service thus comes all in at a price of P850 a month. It effectively waives the metering for national direct dialing (NDD) for calls made using the second SIM to its local area, making landline calls more affordable.

?We would like to make the landline as relevant as possible. Because of trends in communications, wireless is becoming more dominant,? PLDT head of retail business group Dan Ibarra said in an interview during yesterday?s product launch.

NDD charges will still apply if the fixed line registered under ?Call All? service or its wireless extension is used to call cellular phones or landline numbers outside its home area.

Ibarra said the innovation, which sought to offer clear and reliable voice call and text messaging service, would leverage on PLDT?s 1.3 million household subscriber base. He added that this would be a new area of growth for the landline segment aside from the booming data or broadband (DSL) business.

The landline business accounts for only about 20 percent of the PLDT group?s business, while wireless operated by Smart Communications and Pilipino Telephone Corp. contribute 80 percent.