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Recap: iPhone 4 Corporate Launch

Globe Telecom officially launched the Apple iPhone 4 yesterday to their Corporate subscribers. That’s 2 days earlier than the announced public launching of the hottest phone in town.

Pre-orders started last Saturday via a special link sent by Globe through email. I pre-ordered mine around morning of Saturday. Got an email stating that I’ll be getting a call or email to confirm my reservation. After 4 days of waiting and praying, I got a call from one of their representative saying that I can claim the phone on Friday. FRIDAY! September 24!

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

I was a bit shocked when I heard I can get mine 2 days before the public can get one (excluding those who bought it from the grey market a.k.a. GH).

Fast-forward to yesterday, I was at Globe’s Corporate office in Valero, Makati at 8:45AM.  I had to go early because I have work that day. The mood was nice and pretty festive and everyone looked happy. We can’t blame those who went there early, they’re getting the sweetest gadget of the year. I was pretty giddy myself, I didn’t get to sleep that much the night before.

I went to the registration line and I was given a number. At the waiting area, we were served iced teas, roast beef sandwiches and ham & cheese paninis. I waited for 20-30 minutes before my number got called and I was ushered to the first desk.

After checking all my forms, I was given again another number to the releasing line. This is where the service dropped big time! People waited for at least an hour or two. Some people were already shouting because of how slow their process was. I was feeling a bit annoyed that time.

By 11:00am, the entire area was filled with hundreds of people, all standing. Others were already making rude comments. One guy even went to the desk and claimed that 3 others were able to get their iPhones even if they had a later number. The only thing that Globe did right was they filled the entire room with drinks and food to appease the people.

Anyways, when I got the phone, we went to the activation area. There, I spent only 5 minutes to activate the phone. They gave me a Php1,000 Power Mac Gift Certificate. I reserved two black prepaid 16GB iPhone 4 so I got 2GCs as well. Each 16GB iPhone retails for Php37,500.

Last step of the grueling process was transferring my old iPhone line sim card to a new micro-sim. I gave my sim to the girl and they entered my number to the system and voila! My number is now transferred to the micro-sim (t’was pretty fast).

We were just waiting for the signal to appear. Upon seeing the 3G signal on my new iPhone 4, I started to smile. All my frustration from the waiting and standing in line for hours simply fade away. I went home a happy iPhone 4 user.

Note: Globe still uses the old iPhone 3G paper bags from 2 years ago Philippines iPhone buyers will not get the free bumper case announced by Steve Jobs a couple of months ago. I triple checked it with the managers there.

I just synced all my data and apps to my phone. And so far, I’m loving the iphone 4. I’ll be writing my iPhone 4 review in a couple of days. :)

Editor’s Note: Dale is a special assignments contributor at YugaTech. You can follow him on Twitter at @dalekins. This coverage of the iPhone 4 corporate launch is written by Dale with slight revisions from me. Should give people an idea on what will happen during the public launch this Sunday. – Yuga

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37 Responses

  1. Avatar for Jeff Jeff says:

    @Kris: Kris, have activated your microsim? Or still got a problem until now?

  2. Avatar for david david says:

    Hi, I’m Selling

    Brand New Apple iPhone4 16Gb Factory Unlocked.

    – can be used with any network Sim card. (Globe, Sun, Smart, Etc.)

    – Guaranteed to be Brand New and Sealed

    Price is: Php 40,000

    MEET UP at Metro Manila Areas when buying.

    Text me at 092288*****,
    or email me at thecutem****@****.***

    Thanks,
    David

  3. Avatar for Kris Kris says:

    Got my iPhone 4 just last November 12, 2010 and they told me that it will get activated within 24 to 48-hours which is dpat activated na siya by yesterday. Sadly, up to now hindi pa rin gumagana yung microsim. Nakailang tawag na ako sa customer service ng Globe and all they can do is to empathize and escalate my concern. I applied online and they told me na iba daw kasi ang process pag through online ang application compared to applying on one of their business centers. I need to coordinate daw with the agent who processed my online application. Nakakainis kasi nagkaroon na nga ng problema sa delivery, which i ended up going to their main office sa Pioneer, tapos ngayon activation na nga lang gagawin nagkaka-problema pa rin. *sigh*

  4. Avatar for jndy jndy says:

    @PogingGuest

    Yes and yes to both of your questions.

    termination within the 1st year of your contract,you’ll have to pay the unit price or Phpxxx (am not sure of the exact amount), whichever is higher. Termination within the 2nd year of contract, 50% of unit price or Phpxxx, whichever is higher. There is also an additional service fee of mga hundreds lang naman.

  5. Avatar for PogingGuest PogingGuest says:

    Sorry for being stupid but i just gotta ask since im on prepaid.
    Pwede bang magpacut ng postpaid line kahit di pa tapos yung 24 mos contract? And do i have to pay something?

  6. Avatar for Text Cipher Text Cipher says:

    @Jay

    Were they able to finally activate your iPhone 4? Got mine at the public launch on 26/09. As of today 29/09 no joy! Everytime I followup with their CSR, the 24 hour ‘monitoring’ time is constantly being reset for yet another 24 hours…

    Intermission – took a call from ‘Globe Telecom’ just now advising me that I can ‘pick up my unit at the Globe Business Center…’

    Hello?! My unit had been issued to be already 26/09. I need it to be activated…

    Anyone else wish to share their activation horror experience?

  7. Avatar for Text Cipher Text Cipher says:

    @Joseph

    Yes, I too was able to avail of the Apple iPhone 4 ‘free bumper’ program by downloading the the app to my iPhone and having it sent to a US address. Hurry promo/program ends end-Sept. Takes 1-2 weeks to ship.

  8. Avatar for Text Cipher Text Cipher says:

    For complaints/gripes regarding Telcos’ poor customer service (including overly delayed activation process) you may contact:

    National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
    One Stop Public Assistance Center
    Froilan Jamias
    926-7722 / 436-7722
    Email: o****@****.***

  9. Avatar for Joseph Joseph says:

    I was able to avail of the free case courtesy of apple. Used my US Itunes Account. Shipping the case to my aunt’s place in NY. Will get there by Oct 29. Choices weren’t limited to the bumpers only. It included cases by belkin, incase etc. :) got the invoice last night.

  10. Avatar for Text Cipher Text Cipher says:

    How long did it take Globe to activate your unit(s). I was there on public launch day 26 Sept. at the Shang-Makati and am eagerly awaiting for it to be activated hopefully before their committed 24 hour time is up!

  11. Avatar for dale dale says:

    @Kentot: Its using iOS 4.1 :)

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