History of Text Messaging

1.1 Philippines and the History of Text Messaging

The mobile phone was introduced in the Philippines when the Philippine government started allowing limited competition in the telecommunications sector. Until the early 1990s, telecommunications services were provided by a private monopoly—Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). At that time, the average Filipino had worst things to say about telecommunications service in the country.

Efforts to reform the telecommunications sector, through the introduction of more competition, began during the election of Fidel Ramos as President in 1992. The first Executive Order (E.O.) issued by Ramos on this concern is E.O. 59, mandating interconnection of other telephone companies to PLDT’s network. The second order was E.O. 109, entitled “Policy to Improve the Provision of Local Exchange Carrier Service”, with the objective of improving telephone service in rural/underserved areas. Ramos’ EO’s set the stage for the end of PLDT monopoly and allowed competitors in the telecommunications market.

In 1995, the Telecommunications Act of the Philippines formally set into place the policy for competition and deregulation of the telecommunications sector. Given PLDT’s dominant status, it is not surprising that a PLDT subsidiary, Pilipino Telephone Company (Piltel), was the first company that was granted authority to deliver cellular mobile telephone service. Piltel began operations in 1991. The second company to provide cellular services was Express Telecommunications Co. (Extelcom) launched its cellular service in 1991. Smart Communications (Smart) started operating in February 1994. While all three providers offered analog services they used different proprietary technologies. Isla Communications Inc. (Islacom) launched its GSM cellular service in 1993, while Globe Telecoms (Globe) introduced its GSM-based service...