The Philippine society clearly recognized the need for a migrant worker to communicate with his or her loved ones back home. This is evident with the number of special products and services that telecommunication companies in the Philippines now offer.

Though there are many ways to easily communicate nowadays, many still prefer to talk to their loved ones through voice or phone calls. Hearing the voice of your loved ones can bridge the distance better than reading a message sent through short messaging service (SMS) or emails. Others may prefer video chats because it allows them to see their loved ones. The latter method though may not be available to all so the easiest and fastest way to communicate to someone far is still through making that voice call. 

However, family members in the Philippines are afraid to make that phone call because of the fear that it would cost too much. Those who do call would make the chat time short for the same reason.

The good news is that call rates from the Philippines to abroad is not as expensive as before. Realizing the huge demand from the families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the three biggest telecom companies, Smart, Globe and SunCellular competes in bringing the most affordable overseas call rates.

Sun Cellular’s IDD Rates

Filipinos with relatives or friends based in top OFW destinations can benefit from the special International Direct Dial (IDD) rates offered by Sun Cellular. The Sun Cellular’s partnership with over 40 international voice carrier allows them to offer best-value rates. Sun Cellular’s International Call and Text SIM cards offer the following call rates:

Sun Cellular also offers a special SMS rate of Php5 per message to over 200 international destinations worldwide. Sun Cellular users may find the service more convenient because they need not dial any pin numbers or prefixes to make an outgoing call.

Globe Telecom’s IDD Rates

For an affordable per minute call rate, Globe has the TipIDD call card. It can be used by any Globe and Touch Mobile phones and is available for postpaid or prepaid users. It can also be used from any Globe Landline.  

To make an outgoing call, the user needs to follow specific dialing instructions. First, they need to dial 1286 and follow the instructions to be given by a voice prompt. Globe’s TipIDD card also comes with a PIN-less dialing feature, so user no longer need to their PIN number again in their next calls.

To use the PIN-less feature, just dial *5 right after dialing their PIN card number for the first time and before dialling the number they wish to call. To deactivate the feature, dial *9.

Smart Communications IDD

Smart users can purchase HelLow, a reloadable IDD card which provides a low-cost international direct dialing (IDD) service. It is said to be first of its kind in the Philippines.

Just plug the HelLow IDD card on any Smart and Talk N’ Text cellphone, purchase load cards and the user can already make a call to top OFW destinations at a low rate.  The card comes with a Php30 load that can be used up to the last P2.50. One can buy a load for as low as Php15.

Do you have an OFW product/service or OFW-related event you want to promote? Do leave us a note at editor@ofwguide.com