Recap: iPhone 4 Corporate Launch

Globe Telecom officially launched the Apple iPhone 4 yesterday to their Corporate subscribers. That’s 2 days earlier than the announced public launching of the hottest phone in town.

Pre-orders started last Saturday via a special link sent by Globe through email. I pre-ordered mine around morning of Saturday. Got an email stating that Iâ€™ll be getting a call or email to confirm my reservation. After 4 days of waiting and praying, I got a call from one of their representative saying that I can claim the phone on Friday. FRIDAY! September 24!

I was a bit shocked when I heard I can get mine 2 days before the public can get one (excluding those who bought it from the grey market a.k.a. GH).

Fast-forward to yesterday, I was at Globe’s Corporate office in Valero, Makati at 8:45AM. Â I had to go early because I have work that day. The mood was nice and pretty festive and everyone looked happy. We can’t blame those who went there early, they’re getting the sweetest gadget of the year. I was pretty giddy myself, I didn’t get to sleep that much the night before.

I went to the registration line and I was given a number. At the waiting area, we were served iced teas, roast beef sandwiches and ham & cheese paninis. I waited for 20-30 minutes before my number got called and I was ushered to the first desk.

After checking all my forms, I was given again another number to the releasing line. This is where the service dropped big time! People waited for at least an hour or two. Some people were already shouting because of how slow their process was. I was feeling a bit annoyed that time.

By 11:00am, the entire area was filled with hundreds of people, all standing. Others were already making rude comments. One guy even went to the desk and claimed that 3 others were able to get their iPhones even if they had a later number. The only thing that Globe did right was they filled the entire room with drinks and food to appease the people.

Anyways, when I got the phone, we went to the activation area. There, I spent only 5 minutes to activate the phone. They gave me a Php1,000 Power Mac Gift Certificate. I reserved two black prepaid 16GB iPhone 4 so I got 2GCs as well. Each 16GB iPhone retails for Php37,500.

Last step of the grueling process was transferring my old iPhone line sim card to a new micro-sim. I gave my sim to the girl and they entered my number to the system and voila! My number is now transferred to the micro-sim (t’was pretty fast).

We were just waiting for the signal to appear. Upon seeing the 3G signal on my new iPhone 4, I started to smile. All my frustration from the waiting and standing in line for hours simply fade away. I went home a happy iPhone 4 user.

Note: Globe still uses the old iPhone 3G paper bags from 2 years ago Philippines iPhone buyers will not get the free bumper case announced by Steve Jobs a couple of months ago. I triple checked it with the managers there.

I just synced all my data and apps to my phone. And so far, I’m loving the iphone 4. I’ll be writing my iPhone 4 review in a couple of days. :)

Editor’s Note: Dale is a special assignments contributor at YugaTech. You can follow him on Twitter at @dalekins. This coverage of the iPhone 4 corporate launch is written by Dale with slight revisions from me. Should give people an idea on what will happen during the public launch this Sunday. – Yuga

37 Comments

Jeff says:

14 years ago

@Kris: Kris, have activated your microsim? Or still got a problem until now?
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david says:

14 years ago

Hi, I’m Selling

Brand New Apple iPhone4 16Gb Factory Unlocked.

– can be used with any network Sim card. (Globe, Sun, Smart, Etc.)

– Guaranteed to be Brand New and Sealed

Price is: Php 40,000

MEET UP at Metro Manila Areas when buying.

Text me at 092288*****,
or email me at thecutem****@****.***

Thanks,
David
- Reply
Kris says:

14 years ago

Got my iPhone 4 just last November 12, 2010 and they told me that it will get activated within 24 to 48-hours which is dpat activated na siya by yesterday. Sadly, up to now hindi pa rin gumagana yung microsim. Nakailang tawag na ako sa customer service ng Globe and all they can do is to empathize and escalate my concern. I applied online and they told me na iba daw kasi ang process pag through online ang application compared to applying on one of their business centers. I need to coordinate daw with the agent who processed my online application. Nakakainis kasi nagkaroon na nga ng problema sa delivery, which i ended up going to their main office sa Pioneer, tapos ngayon activation na nga lang gagawin nagkaka-problema pa rin. *sigh*
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jndy says:

14 years ago

@PogingGuest

Yes and yes to both of your questions.

termination within the 1st year of your contract,you’ll have to pay the unit price or Phpxxx (am not sure of the exact amount), whichever is higher. Termination within the 2nd year of contract, 50% of unit price or Phpxxx, whichever is higher. There is also an additional service fee of mga hundreds lang naman.
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PogingGuest says:

14 years ago

Sorry for being stupid but i just gotta ask since im on prepaid.
Pwede bang magpacut ng postpaid line kahit di pa tapos yung 24 mos contract? And do i have to pay something?
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Text Cipher says:

14 years ago

@Jay

Were they able to finally activate your iPhone 4? Got mine at the public launch on 26/09. As of today 29/09 no joy! Everytime I followup with their CSR, the 24 hour ‘monitoring’ time is constantly being reset for yet another 24 hours…

Intermission – took a call from ‘Globe Telecom’ just now advising me that I can ‘pick up my unit at the Globe Business Center…’

Hello?! My unit had been issued to be already 26/09. I need it to be activated…

Anyone else wish to share their activation horror experience?
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Text Cipher says:

14 years ago

@Joseph

Yes, I too was able to avail of the Apple iPhone 4 ‘free bumper’ program by downloading the the app to my iPhone and having it sent to a US address. Hurry promo/program ends end-Sept. Takes 1-2 weeks to ship.
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Text Cipher says:

14 years ago

For complaints/gripes regarding Telcos’ poor customer service (including overly delayed activation process) you may contact:

National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
One Stop Public Assistance Center
Froilan Jamias
926-7722 / 436-7722
Email: o****@****.***
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Joseph says:

14 years ago

I was able to avail of the free case courtesy of apple. Used my US Itunes Account. Shipping the case to my aunt’s place in NY. Will get there by Oct 29. Choices weren’t limited to the bumpers only. It included cases by belkin, incase etc. :) got the invoice last night.
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Text Cipher says:

14 years ago

How long did it take Globe to activate your unit(s). I was there on public launch day 26 Sept. at the Shang-Makati and am eagerly awaiting for it to be activated hopefully before their committed 24 hour time is up!
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dale says:

14 years ago

@Kentot: Its using iOS 4.1 :)
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ego says:

14 years ago

i reserve iphone4 pa namn thru globe.com den yet malalamn ako walang white na available. ano kaya yun haist sayang sa december pa mag kakaroon :( too bad for me.
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kentot says:

14 years ago

ask ko lng..ano ios version ng iphone4 sa globe?
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SnakeEyes says:

14 years ago

No free bumpers – as per my source, iPhone 4 from Globe is already version 2 which the “death grip” is already fixed.

I also tried that in Globe Business Center at Glorietta and as per my test signal is still full bar for almost a minute.

Yey!
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Anne says:

14 years ago

Im glad i got my iphone 4 in hongkong weeks ago. Its priced even cheaper than the prepaid price offered by Globe and it’s factory unlocked too! Awesome phone! i have no regrets about buying it!
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nexusboy says:

14 years ago

anu ba kayo, 9 months to go may bago na namang iPhone. HD 4G na. just in time matapos ang 24-month lock-in ng iPhone 3GS ko. =)
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Jay says:

14 years ago

We go ours last Friday as well. They told us to expect our service to go online after 24 hours since it was a new line…

It’s Sunday and I’m still getting ‘No Signal’…boo!
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Jerric V says:

14 years ago

There is too much excitement here. Will there ever be a Windows Phone 7 release here. I sure want to try one, after IOS4.1 and Froyo…? Getting expensive my cellphone purchase these days.
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fernand says:

14 years ago

im one of those who will be in Shangrila Makati tomorrow for the iPhone 4 launching, i hope everything will be smooth and in order tomorrow. will be getting my 16gb at 1pm to 2pm (time slot given by Globe). i guess i’ll just have to go there earlier to avoid the long lines.
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Charlie says:

14 years ago

The price of iphone 4 in Globe is too much… Here in Saudi Arabia the price of prepaid form mobily are as follows;

iphone 4 16gb….Sr. 2,699.00
Iphone 4 32gb …Sr. 3,099.00

Sr. 1.00 = 11.69 pesos today exchange rate

All devices unlock, you can use any micro simcard to any Telco’s.
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PogingGuest says:

14 years ago

Oooh. Aabangan ko yung review. Esp. yung related sa “death grip” pati battery performance (mabilis daw maubos). I’ll read your review bago ko bumili.
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dale says:

14 years ago

@neis: Yeah I got 2000 worth of GC, but my point was, If I get the phone on monday will Globe still give me 1000k GC? they said, No. So not everyone will get the supposed “free” bumper. :)

@Jiro Yan, yeah you’re right. Just the paper bag. I meant the paper bag. My mistake. ^_^

@chopopoy I tried to do the death grip, I didnt see any change in the signal. :)
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Manny says:

14 years ago

I wonder if i’ll see the iphone4 haters make rude comments in this blog, especially that the site owner now owns one.
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Ronald says:

14 years ago

i really want to upgrade to iPhone 4 from iPhone 3G… =(
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tantra2gadget says:

14 years ago

wow nice and goodlooking mobilephone for good looking man too….hehehehe!congrats!!!!!
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neis says:

14 years ago

i got mine on the corporate launch ^_^;

it’s only the bag that is the old one, everything else new

for the supposed bumper, that’s the purpose of the 1000 peso Power Mac Gift Certificate, go buy yourself one :)
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Jiro Yan says:

14 years ago

I thinks not the boxes? Just the old iPhone 3G paper bag.
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iojrn says:

14 years ago

awww… that was soo sweet :-)
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chopopoy says:

14 years ago

reception issues???
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Dan The Beast says:

14 years ago

you guys should have anticipated the long lines and slow service. after all, nasa pinas pa rin tayo. :D
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Smart Communications says:

14 years ago

Congratulations!!!
- Reply