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Globe iPhone 4 Public Launch

Globe Telecom started handing out the new iPhone 4 to the public at 9am today with hundreds (and going to the thousands) lining/waiting to pick-up their handsets.

They also had a corporate launch last Friday but this one’s for the general public.

Globe arranged for 2 venues as pick-up points for the iPhone 4 release — there’s one in Shangri-la Makati and another one in New World Hotel (beside GreenBelt 3). A total of 450 Globe personnel were deployed to man 150 stations/booths for claiming and activating the handsets.

Globe reps claim this is their biggest product launch ever (bigger than the 1000+ iPhone 3G launch they had 2 years ago). But unlike the iPhone 3G launch, this one is much more organized and more prepared. People were comfortably seated and relaxed; and since it was inside the hotel, the atmosphere is less stressful despite the growing crowd.

The entire process of claiming the iPhone 4 was smooth and quick. There were so many Globe personnel to usher people around and they had catering from the hotel so there were lots of good food and bottomless brewed coffee.

I also claimed my unit from a retention plan and the whole process was done in 30 minutes. I asked the staff and they said it could go up to 90 minutes depending on the type of customer (new, switchers, retention, upgrades, etc) which will include the option of transferring/syncing contacts to the new micro-SIM.

From our estimates (based on the initial rate of activations), there could be somewhere around 1500 – 2000 people claiming their iPhone 4s today (9am to 9pm).

Unfortunately, the Globe rep I asked tells me Apple isn’t automatically extending the free bumper case to the Philippines (you need to claim it from the US as it’s only applicable there).

I also managed to switch my plan to My Fully Loaded 1799 from the old iPhone Plan 1599 to get the 16GB iPhone 4 at reduced rate. The 16GB iPhone 4 costs Php37,499 (free on Plan 3799 @ 24 months) while the 32GB is Php43,699 (free on Plan 5000 @ 24 months) on prepaid plan.

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Update: It’s been 11 days since I got the new Globe postpaid micro-SIM and it’s still not activated yet. I have contacted @talk2globe at least 3 times but have not gotten anything done. They might have forgotten about my account already.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

151 Responses

  1. Avatar for Kitty Kitty says:

    Yugger!!! Mishu! =)

  2. Avatar for jim jim says:

    there is no such thing as loyalty award as far as globe telecom is concerned. they are just giving you new plans for a new phone.

    just a reminder to those who just got a new iPhone 4: change your APN settings like add/delete character/s to avoid being charged continuously with data charges unless you are enrolled to an unlimited surfing plan
    e.g. APN: internet.globe.com.ph — change the whole thing or add characters e.g. internet.globe.com.phqwerty. remember to do this again if you happen to reset the network settings or when you update your iPhone

  3. Avatar for garyboi garyboi says:

    Hey! I don’t know why you guys were able to have your existing plans upgraded and get an iPhone 4. I went to Globe Megamall re: upgrading my existing plan at least to Plan 1799 but they said that when I upgrade it, I won’t get the iPhone 4. I’m at the same time almost done with my 24-month contract by May 2011 and they mentioned that they’re not sure if they can give me an iPhone 4 as loyalty or something. Very inconsistent and different from what you guys experienced last Sunday. I don’t know why? :( GLobe people at Megamall are like that; I’ll try to visit other Globe stores.

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      @garyboi – you need to finish your existing contract first. My contract expired last August so technically I am on a new contract already.

  4. Avatar for Dien Dien says:

    tungkol sa internet ..sa mga SM makapag connect ng automatic..kung gusto u naman sa bahay ..bili ka ng wifi router connect u ang Globe/smart bandlux or broadband duon then macheck u sa iyong Iphone 4 – marecognised ng unit na connected sya

  5. Avatar for Dien Dien says:

    Check out whre the product manufacture? warranty…price affordable

  6. Avatar for MyMaria MyMaria says:

    @edward √ check! I was getting worried about this… how do you monitor ba naman the minutes/hours you have used?

  7. Avatar for edward edward says:

    @MyMaria: i dont think that is possible. for one, freebies are charged per hour- e di ba parang lano naman ata nun ng change to per Kb na.. anu to hidden rules nanaman ng globe– ill see when my bill arrives to confrim though, ill ask na CSR from globe business center mismo. malabo kausap mga call center agents nila, hindi ata alam sanasabi minsan

  8. Avatar for MyMaria MyMaria says:

    Hey you guys… I also got the plan 1799.. but how true is it that when you use all of the 15 hours of internet (coz I availed of 5 D’s)… we are charged na daw per KB as for internet? not time-based?!? Whoa! Can anyone confirm this?

  9. Avatar for arnold arnold says:

    I chose D freebie. That’s free 15 hours data, plus 1799 is consumable daw sabi ng CSR.

  10. Avatar for edward edward says:

    @dongv: yes, while i was waiting dun sa counter to process my retention plan, the CS girl mentioned that a lot of subscribers have upgraded their plans to lessen the cashout value.
    i chose 4D’s and 1 B… sayang nga hindi ko pwede pa cancel yung existing subscription ko for SuperOne, in exchange for the freebies. hehe sayang.. aynyways the freebies are changeable, meaning every 30 days you may opt to have another set of freebies.

    to you guys out there: iphone4 is an excellent phone. it may have some downsides, pero it is still worth it.. =)

  11. Avatar for Rico Rico says:

    @raymond

    Weak cellular spots. There’s our clincher. Our office in Sta Rosa Laguna has a weak Globe signal and everyone seems to suffer a dropped call or two when inside yet we use a diverse set of phones. Even my trusty old Nokia 1100i loses quite a bit of bars there rendering the call unintelligible.

    @dongv
    I picked 5 Ds which is equivalent to 15 hours of browsing. I used to have 40 hours of free borwsing in my old plan 1599 plus 40 hours of Wiz Wifi, now they’re gone!

  12. Avatar for raymond raymond says:

    @rico

    Complaints of signal loss from customers has led Apple to implement band-aid solutions.

    First is by distributing free bumper cases, which unfortunately wasn’t part of Globe’s deal.

    Second is by releasing a software update iOS4.0.2 which was supposed to mitigate the problem. But what it actually does is hide the true loss of signal strength by “fixing” the signal strength display on your screen.

    On areas with strong network coverage, you won’t experience dropped calls. However, the real test begins when you go to weak cellular spots.

    The design of the iPhone 4 is the problem. Antennas aren’t supposed to be placed in areas that can be touched. Obviously, the solution cannot be software in nature.

    But don’t take my word for it. It’s on iPhone 4’s website mismo.

    http://www.apple.com/antenna/

  13. Avatar for dongv dongv says:

    just curious lang, since so many pick the Plan 1799. what are the A-E freebie you pick?

  14. Avatar for arnold arnold says:

    Also got the iPhone 4 under plan 1799 pero my line was upgraded from the previous 1599 so I needed to cash out around 9K…Good deal na rin, Globe din naman ang gagamitin kong SIM dun so might as well get tied up with Globe for another 24 months…:-)

  15. Avatar for edward edward says:

    haha, you got a good deal there sir yuga. i got mine with a cashout under plan 1799, so pwede pala yung ganun additional lock-in period.
    also dami ng plan upgrade just so the cashout will be lesser.
    anyways, sobra haba ng waiting time nga e. a lot are complaining especially na merun sobra tagal na daw nghihintay dun. pero ako hindi masyado mga 1hr 30 min lng naman. hahah LOL
    great phone!!! i still have to do more test kung ok nga talga tong bagong iphone4.

  16. Avatar for churchill churchill says:

    Ngayon lang ako nakakita ng phone (iPhone 4) na kinailangan ng bumper para matakpan yung scar (antenna issue) sa package. Parang band-aid sa isang sugat.

    Pero sana hindi ito yung case ng mga devices na nirelease dito sa pinas.

  17. Avatar for jaimsitecom jaimsitecom says:

    sa mga nakakuha: naka os 4.1 na ba sya? if yes, then hindi pa sya jailbreakable…

  18. Avatar for Rico Rico says:

    @raymond actually I was very disappointed when I was able to make a call and fail to drop it using the “death grip”.

  19. Avatar for raymond raymond says:

    Don’t say you were not warned about the most expensive phone that cannot make calls.

  20. Avatar for poche poche says:

    @jaycee
    sa dec pa ata un white iphones in time for xmas lol

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