Hong Kong, 20th May 2011 -- It has become much easier – and cheaper – for Filipinos in Hong Kong and Singapore to be reached by family and friends in the Philippines, thanks to an innovative new service of telecoms leader PLDT that puts two cell phone numbers inside a single SIM card.

Called “Multiline”, the new service attaches a “virtual” Philippine cell phone number supplied by Smart Communications to a Smart Pinoy SIM which also has a Hong Kong cell phone number.

Cell phone users in the Philippines pay only local voice and SMS rates when calling the virtual Philippine number of the Smart Pinoy SIM.  This includes the various “bucket” and “unlimited” text offers of Smart and Talk N Text.

Non-Smart subscribers in the Philippines can also contact Smart Pinoy Multiline subscribers at local voice and text rates.

 “This new service offers substantial savings for Filipinos who frequently contact their relatives living in Hong Kong,” said Enrique Yu, the business head of PLDT Global Corporation (PGC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLDT.

“For Filipinos in Hong Kong, they no longer have to carry around another cell phone with Philippine roaming SIM. They have two numbers – a Hong Kong number and Philippine one – in just one SIM, in just one phone,” he added.

SIM is short for subscriber identification module – the small computer chip that is placed inside GSM mobile phones in order to activate these devices.

Smart Pinoy is the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service set up by PGC in Hong Kong through a partnership with leading mobile operator CSL and in Singapore in cooperation with Mobile One.

Multiline enables relatives and friends of OFWs to keep in touch more often, especially during birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, and other occasions, or even everyday calls to give them updates on family members, making OFWs feel like they never left the Philippines.

With the Multiline service, Philippine subscribers may call or send text messages to Smart Pinoy numbers in Hongkong and Singapore at the following local rates:

Hongkong subscribers can avail of the Multiline service by texting UNLI<space>ON and sending it to 152866. Registration fee is HK$10, but monthly service fee is only HK$5.

“This new service gives us the opportunity to utilize PLDT Group’s relevant roster of products in conjunction with other services, making Multiline a more compelling product to the Filipino Overseas Workers,” said Yu.

PLDT Global Corporation (PGC) is a 100% wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT). As the international marketing, sales, and operating arm of the PLDT Group of Companies, it offers a wide range of products and services even beyond telecommunications. PGC provides innovative telecommunications solutions and other relevant consumer services to Filipinos overseas and other ethnic markets.  It was established in 2000 as a unit of the International Carrier Business Group of PLDT, handling wholesale business. In 2004, it spun off from PLDT to serve some 8.6 million global Filipinos.