PSE Circular for Brokers No. 1481-99

June 23, 1999 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 1481-99 PLDT NEWS PLDT reported that it has recently installed four new public calling offices (PCOs) in Batanes to further strengthen the link of the country's northernmost province with the rest of the world. The PCOs installed in cooperation with the Ivatan Foundation for Development Communications Inc. (IFDCI) are located in the towns of Basco, Ivana, Sabtang, and Itbayat Island, according to PLDT Executive Vice President Antonio R. Samson. "The installation of these PCOs in Batanes is in line with PLDT's dream of connecting the country's more than 7,100 islands together and providing them with a bridge to the rest of the world through a modern telecommunications systems," Samson said. LLpr These PCOs are provided with outgoing and incoming calls to and from any part of the world. These are interconnected with PLDT's domestic and international toll network through its Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Satellite facilities. The PCOs enable residents in these areas to place national and international long distance telephone calls. Incoming telephone calls are also accepted under a pre-arranged basis or "appointment call." Under this arrangement, the receiver of the call can either wait at the PCO on the specified time or the PCO toll attendant can send a messenger to his house/place. Thus, people from Manila or anywhere in the country and the world can now call directly their relatives in these towns. With the installation of these four new PLDT PCOs, Batanes now has five PCOs with ten lines or toll circuits serving the communications needs of its residents. IFDCI has been operating the Piltel PCO in Basco town with VSAT toll circuits since 1997. Batanes, the country's smallest province, has ten small Islands, only three of which are inhabited, namely, Batan, Sabtang, and Itbayat. These three islands have an estimated population of around 15,026.