MANILA, Philippines—Red Mobile, a new budget prepaid cellular phone network owned and powered by Smart Communications Inc., aims to make inroads into the highly competitive telecommunications industry by offering the country’s lowest metered rate of P0.50 per minute for all voice and video calls within the same network.

The new mobile network, which has about 100,000 subscribers to date, rides on Smart’s extensive infrastructure and also offers services available on the 2G network.

“This step, to make the country’s lowest call rate available to a wider consumer base via the 2G network, is our response to the clamor for more affordable call packages,” said Guido Zaballero, Red Mobile department head. “We are confident Red Mobile’s expanded services will provide the consumer with an ideal combination of product value and quality service.”

Top officials of Smart, flagship subsidiary of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., said the group was building up this new prepaid brand as part of efforts to expand consumers’ choices in every market segment. Its target is the young segment of the population who use voice and video calls.

The service needs a minimum of P30 load, which is valid for both 2G and 3G calls. The service comes with affordable handsets priced at between P3,000 and P4,000 for the 3G-enabled units.

“By making our services available on 2G, and by utilizing the network of the country’s leading wireless services provider, we are making value-for-money services more accessible to the increasingly mobile Filipino,” Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea said.

Red Mobile is operated by Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise Inc., which was acquired by Smart in April.