This news excites me a lot! Smart Communications, Sun Cellular and Voyager Innovations (a subsidiary of Smart) entered a strategic partnership with Waze to help expand awareness drivers of vehicles in the Philippines.
Waze is a popular crowdsourced navigation app that helps users avoid traffic and save time in travel to their destinations. It uses GPS navigation and social networking, thus enabling users to identify the fastest and most efficient map routes. The Israeli-based startup was recently acquired by Google for $966 million and some have believed that they have something to do with the improvement of the Google Maps app.
What will Smart, Sun and Voyager do with this partnership? According to the press release I have received, these 3 companies will encourage further expansion of Waze usage in the Philippines through a marketing, promotion and distribution agreement to Smart and Sun’s more than 73.4 million subscribers. In addition to special promotions, these 2 telcos will pre-install Waze on smartphones bundled under its commercial postpaid and prepaid offerings. The Philippines on the Waze map will display Smart and Sun branded retail pins to help extend both companies’ customer service.
Meanwhile, Voyager will work closely with Waze for technology integration and exchange of map data for both Smart and Sun.
“Waze is one of the most innovative and fast-rising mobile apps in the world and we’re proud to make this available to our subscribers. With our fast-growing smartphone subscriber base, Waze is an exciting addition to the growing number of Smart and Sun’s leading global mobile apps partners,” said Orlando B. Vea, Chief Wireless Advisor, Smart and president of Digitel.
“Voyager is bringing Waze, a leading crowd-sourced mapping and traffic information app experience to the Philippines. By downloading the app, users can gain access to a rich navigation experience thru the mobile phone – no need for another gadget. It is just the beginning– we are bringing more of these innovative services to enrich everyday life,” said Jose Benjamin S. Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer, Voyager.
As a Waze user since 2010, I’m very happy with this partnership with my choice telco provider. The app is one of my must-download apps on every smartphone I test and it has helped me a lot of time whenever I drive around the metro. This partnership will be a fruitful one.
