PLDT launches new retail format

MANILA, Philippines–Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) introduced a new retail format as it rolled out the first “The Sun Shop Satellite Branch” in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, as part of a strategy to directly reach specific market segments around the country.

In a statement, PLDT said the Sta. Rosa branch comes ahead of the opening of as many as 37 branches, operated by third-party partners, scheduled for this year.

The new format will be banking on commercial partnerships with authorized third-party entities to run retail operations for its mobile service business.

These will provide existing and prospective subscribers access to postpaid line applications, bills payment and prepaid transactions for both its 2G and 3G brands, including its mobile Internet services.

Since 2007, the mobile brand has been pursuing a similar expansion model to effectively branch out into new stores in different parts of the country. As strategic extensions to its company-operated and mall-based stores, these outlets are designed to support Sun Cellular’s fledging postpaid business.

“While we continue to expand our line of services, we will also work on widening our touch points to ensure that every value-seeking customer gets a convenient end-to-end experience of our services,” said Maloo Agoncillo, vice president and head of retail support for Smart and Sun Cellular.