Now, in the digital age, connectivity is an important aspect of our lives. From work to leisure, getting a consistent and fast internet connection has become essential for improving both the quality of lives and enterprise productivity.
As a major player in the telecommunication sector, broadband internet service provider Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. (Converge), continues to lead in providing the best digital experience possible whether at home or in corporate.
Starting as a cable service provider, Converge continued to expand its services to internet services that are available nationwide. Given how much digital connectivity takes up most of our lives, from socialization to productivity, Jesus C. Romero, senior executive vice-president and chief operations officer of Converge, shared that the service provider has centered its business on designing a network that is modern, scalable, and customer-centric.
“We have unique products, that have been in the market for a few years, and up to today we are the only ones that offer them,” Mr. Romero emphasized.
While the pandemic has forced the world to shift digitally, the demand for high-speed connectivity increased as well, leaving start-ups and micro businesses disadvantaged. Therefore, small enterprises are forced to come up with a business strategy that will help grant them internet access for their business operations.
Converge saw this as an opportunity to expand the digital market, especially with the rise of home-based and online businesses at this period of time. As a result, to serve its business customers, Converge developed a plan called HomeBase, which allows high-quality internet services for businesses that operate at home.
Helping micro businesses operate comfortably as they shift in the digital space, HomeBase is a digital solution and an enterprise partner that offers micro businesses and home-based businesses a cost-efficient fiber-powered internet and high-speed connectivity enabling users to operate their businesses in the comfort of their homes efficiently.
“We realized there is a huge segment for home-based businesses. HomeBase, allow us to take our business-grade internet service into a home setting for use by businesses that operate at home. It is quite unique and in line with our mission to serve the unserved and underserved home-based businesses,” Mr. Romero further explained.
Converge also observed that since most businesses operate during the day, they need and deserve faster speed during those hours when they are open. To cater to this need, Converge offers flexiBIZ, which offers double the bandwidth that business customers needed during working hours. According to Mr. Romero, this solution does not only instill faster connectivity but it is also quite affordable, making flexiBIZ an efficient choice for businesses that are open by daytime.
“We have also realized that having a good connection is very important. The next thing is how will you help them run their businesses better,” Mr. Romero continued.
Converge also offers a partnership with SweldoMo, a service platform that automates payroll, timekeeping, and human resource management, improving productivity and efficiency in the workplace.
“The Workplace HR & Payroll Solution is a digital online timekeeping and payroll solution and it’s very flexible. One of its unique features is that the days you’ve already worked could be paid before payday. It also has other important features like automatic payment and it also includes incentive-based services,” he explained.
With the rise of tourism and hotel digital shifts, Converge has also looked into offering digital solutions that will help boost the sector. For instance, a cloud-based hotel management system, Workplace Hotel management solution, is empowering hotel businesses and services, specifically those within the micro, small, and medium enterprises segment. This solution helps automate hotel services while reducing costs at the same time.
“We have a solution called eZee, in partnership with Comise Solutions Inc., which allows hotels to automate their operations so that hotels know at any time what rooms are available to sell, it automates the booking process and it allows end customers to log into a website and book a room directly,” Mr. Romero said.
Aside from the domestic side, Converge is also boosting digital connectivity internationally as it joins partners overseas in connectivity infrastructure.
Since February, Converge has started constructing its cable landing station in Davao for the Philippine branch of the Bifrost Cable System, the world’s first subsea trans-pacific cable system connecting the Asia Pacific region to the North American region, which is a contrast to the traditional Singapore-US cable systems, which normally passes through Taiwan or Japan.
Converge is also part of the South East Asia Hainan – Hong Kong Express Cable System (SEA-H2X) project, which will connect Hong Kong, Hainan, the Philippines, Thailand, East Malaysia, and Singapore, with options to extend to Vietnam, Cambodia, West Malaysia and Indonesia. The system is expected to be online by 2024.
“We need to have a complete network that includes the international portions; and, being an island country, it implies that our connectivity is submarine cables. These two investments allow us, one of the highest speed or largest capacity submarine cables connecting the Philippines to the US, Singapore, and Hong Kong, which are the major hubs for companies that provide digital services,” Mr. Romero explained.
Moving forward to the future of Converge, the company will continue improving and expanding to provide the best digital services locally and internationally. For instance, the installation of submarine cable systems will help Converge in providing better access to internet connectivity with high availability, non-blocking, and low latency.
According to Mr. Romero, to better serve businesses, they intend to utilize new technology, like artificial intelligence, to avoid connectivity issues and business applications that will strengthen their network, as well as continue creating relevant products and services that will serve the customers.
“It’s useless to launch a product that will not solve customers’ problems, which will not reduce their costs, or which will not allow them to generate more revenue; and that is always in our mind,” the Converge executive said.
In addition to catering to both 60,000 domestic and international enterprise customers, alongside the company’s strategic plan for connecting the unserved and underserved, and the continuous expansion of its network nationwide, Converge sees potential subscriber growth in the years to come.
Converge is also continuing to serve some of the country’s largest companies in business process outsourcing, banks, financial institutions, universities, and other telecom companies.
Converge, Mr. Romero pointed out, is still expanding; and it will continue to modernize, be more scalable, and remain competitive in the market.
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