Globe launches Tokyo03 service to help subscribers

Globe Telecom subscribers can now contact their friends and relatives in Japan at a fraction of the cost as users can now make overseas calls at local rates.

In partnership with Japan-based company IPS, Inc., Globe recently launched Tokyo03, a mobile application for Apple iOS-based devices that offers “unprecedented value” to those making frequent calls to Japan.

Currently available for the iPhone, iPad and the iPod, and soon to be available on the Android platform, Tokyo03 is an Internet phone application that assigns the user a virtual number.

Virtual numbers function like regular numbers and can be reached through cell phones or landlines.

By giving users a virtual Globe number, Tokyo03 allows those in the Philippines to communicate with their contacts in Japan and be charged local rates simply by dialing a Globe number, as though he were in the same country as the person he or she is calling.

While those in Japan are charged data usage fees for making calls to the Philippines through the Tokyo03 application, those in the Philippines who call their loved ones in Japan on their virtual number only need to pay local rates.

“Tokyo03 enables Philippines-based subscribers to save on costs by letting them make international calls to their loved ones in Japan at highly reduced rates,” the company said.

“This innovation [also] aims to serve the Filipino telecommunications market in Japan. As the fourth-largest foreign community in that country, Filipinos represent a large proportion of outbound calls, which have long been hampered by high international direct-dial rates,” Globe said.

To obtain the application on the iOS platform, the user only needs to search for “Tokyo03” on the app store on the iPhone, iPad or iPod and download it. Once the application is downloaded, the user enters his or her basic contact details. The user will then be instructed on how to complete the registration process.

Once completed, the user can purchase a unique virtual number and start making and receiving calls to and from the Philippines.