Tuesday, October 03, 2006 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES

News

BY MARICEL E. ESTAVILLO, Reporter

 

With high-speed Internet access now becoming more affordable, Internet café owners are finding innovative ways to maximize their investment.

Internet Cafés urged to offer value-added services to boost profits.

In a 150-seat Internet café in Zamboanga City in Mindanao, broadband Internet is being sold for as low as P20 per hour, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) senior vice-president for retail business group Menardo G. Jimenez, Jr. said.

The P20 per hour rate for a broadband Internet access was never heard of last year, particularly in provinces such as Zamboanga City due to low service consumption and the high investment needed to put up the business.

And with Internet broadband now becoming almost a commodity, he said Internet cafes should sell value-added services to assure profitability. Small business owners are advised to tap the Internet café concept to provide the value added to any small business such as gas station, sari-sari store, beauty parlor, car wash or restaurant.

For the latter, PLDT is now offering a Smart Bro Computer Station package.

Under this, for as low as P80,192 in one-time cash payment, one can run a two-seat Internet café or opt for an installment program -- 50% downpayment or P45,192 in initial payment, P10,184 monthly payment for the next six months and P3,714.90 monthly for the next 18 months.

PLDT will provide the broadband connection for two years, including all the necessary facilities to run the business.

For the value-added services, Internet café owners can offer printing services for an average of P10 per page and sell electronic load or eLoad of telecom companies.

There is also online gaming which is popular nowadays, particularly among the young market.

Publisher of Korean online games Level Up! has an estimated 50,000 gamers at any given time in a day. And each gamer spends an average of three hours a day, P20 per hour.

It is also estimated that the popularity of Level Up!, particularly its Ragnarok game, has resulted in P5,000 to P10,000 daily earnings for its Internet café partners. There are about 5,000 Internet cafés with 60,000 seats that sell these types of games.

Internet café owners can also ride on the booming call center industry and roll out the "Internet café by day, call center by night" type of business.

Pioneered by Five9, Inc., a call center provider of affordable call center application, the system allows a company to provide the necessary call center application for only $170 per seat monthly. It even has a business matching program, where Five9 will source the call center clients in behalf of clients.

Five9 country manager Junie Pama said the investment is minimal unlike the $8,000 per seat average investment of large call center companies.

News BY MARICEL E. ESTAVILLO, Reporter Maximizing investment in Internet cafés With high-speed Internet access now becoming more affordable, Internet café owners are finding innovative ways to maximize their investment. Internet Cafés urged to offer value-added services to boost profits. In a 150-seat Internet café in Zamboanga City in Mindanao, broadband Internet is being sold for as low as P20 per hour, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) senior vice-president for retail business group Menardo G. Jimenez, Jr. said. The P20 per hour rate for a broadband Internet access was never heard of last year, particularly in provinces such as Zamboanga City due to low service consumption and the high investment needed to put up the business. And with Internet broadband now becoming almost a commodity, he said Internet cafes should sell value-added services to assure profitability. Small business owners are advised to tap the Internet café concept to provide the value added to any small business such as gas station, sari-sari store, beauty parlor, car wash or restaurant. For the latter, PLDT is now offering a Smart Bro Computer Station package. Under this, for as low as P80,192 in one-time cash payment, one can run a two-seat Internet café or opt for an installment program -- 50% downpayment or P45,192 in initial payment, P10,184 monthly payment for the next six months and P3,714.90 monthly for the next 18 months. PLDT will provide the broadband connection for two years, including all the necessary facilities to run the business. For the value-added services, Internet café owners can offer printing services for an average of P10 per page and sell electronic load or eLoad of telecom companies. There is also online gaming which is popular nowadays, particularly among the young market. Publisher of Korean online games Level Up! has an estimated 50,000 gamers at any given time in a day. And each gamer spends an average of three hours a day, P20 per hour. It is also estimated that the popularity of Level Up!, particularly its Ragnarok game, has resulted in P5,000 to P10,000 daily earnings for its Internet café partners. There are about 5,000 Internet cafés with 60,000 seats that sell these types of games. Internet café owners can also ride on the booming call center industry and roll out the "Internet café by day, call center by night" type of business. Pioneered by Five9, Inc., a call center provider of affordable call center application, the system allows a company to provide the necessary call center application for only $170 per seat monthly. It even has a business matching program, where Five9 will source the call center clients in behalf of clients. Five9 country manager Junie Pama said the investment is minimal un -------------------- Story Location: http://www.itmatters.com.ph/news.php?id=100306a