{"id":10145,"date":"2015-09-09T07:31:19","date_gmt":"2015-09-08T23:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=10145"},"modified":"2015-09-09T13:22:15","modified_gmt":"2015-09-09T05:22:15","slug":"uber-to-offer-free-in-car-wi-fi-service-powered-by-smart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2015\/09\/09\/uber-to-offer-free-in-car-wi-fi-service-powered-by-smart\/","title":{"rendered":"Uber to offer free in-car Wi-Fi service powered by Smart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Now you can access the Internet for free while riding an Uber Black car. Smart Communications, Inc. together with PLDT\u202f and Voyager Innovations, has entered into a strategic partnership with popular ride-sharing service provider Uber Philippines to offer free in-car Wi-Fi service.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_10146\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SmartxUber-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10146\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10146\" src=\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SmartxUber-1-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"Users can now enjoy high-speed WiFi inside Uber cars powered by the country\u2019s leader in mobile, while Smart subscribers who are first-time Uber users get a chance to get free rides. In photo are (from left) Ariel Fermin, EVP and Head of Consumer Business at PLDT and Smart; Orlando Vea, President at Voyager Innovations; Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman at PLDT and Smart; Smart celebrity endorser Anne Curtis; Mike Brown, Uber Regional Manager for Southeast Asia and Australia; Laurence Cua, Uber Country Manager for the Philippines; and Eric Alberto, EVP and Head of Enterprise Business at PLDT.\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SmartxUber-1-1024x684.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SmartxUber-1-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SmartxUber-1-84x55.jpg 84w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10146\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Users can now enjoy high-speed WiFi inside Uber cars powered by the country\u2019s leader in mobile, while Smart subscribers who are first-time Uber users get a chance to get free rides. In photo are (from left) Ariel Fermin, EVP and Head of Consumer Business at PLDT and Smart; Orlando Vea, President at Voyager Innovations; Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman at PLDT and Smart; Smart celebrity endorser Anne Curtis; Mike Brown, Uber Regional Manager for Southeast Asia and Australia; Laurence Cua, Uber Country Manager for the Philippines; and Eric Alberto, EVP and Head of Enterprise Business at PLDT. PHOTO CREDIT: SMART PUBLIC AFFAIRS<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p><\/div>The service, the first in Southeast Asia, will initially be available on select Uber Black cars and and will be available in all Uber vehicles over the next months.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the partnership, Uber riders on Smart\u2019s network will be able to avail special promotions, discounts and on-demand experiences.\u202f Smart subscribers in Metro Manila who are first time users of the app can get two free Uber rides worth up to PhP300 each starting September 9 until September 30.<\/p>\n<p>To avail of Smart\u2019s FREE Uber rides, simply visit www.smart.com.ph\/uber and register your Smart number. Upon successful registration, you shall receive a Promo Code which you can input on the Uber app before requesting a ride.<\/p>\n<p>The Uber mobile app will be also be pre-installed on all smartphones that come with Smart postpaid subscriptions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;PLDT and Smart are the official partners of Uber in the Philippines. The partnership benefits both drivers and consumers,&#8221; said Ariel Fermin, Executive Vice President, PLDT and Smart.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Uber has really changed how people move. We want Uber to become available to everybody, everywhere. We hope that in five to 10 years, everybody will be taking Uber,&#8221; adds Laurence Cua, general manager, Uber Philippines.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Perks for Uber partner drivers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As part of the PLDT group&#8217;s efforts to promote entrepreneurship in the Philippines, Smart is also set to introduce exclusive voice and data packages, bundles and add-ons for Uber partner drivers, as well as offer special promotions, discounts and on-demand experiences for subscribers.<\/p>\n<p>To make it easier for Uber partner drivers and their loved ones to stay connected, Smart SIM cards, special handset and tablets are being made available via an Uber online store using the Tack This! eCommerce platform from Voyager Innovations. Uber partner drivers can access the shop once they are accredited by Uber.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The PLDT Group of today is no longer the telecommunications company everybody is accustomed to,&#8221; says&nbsp; Eric Alberto, EVP and Head of Enterprise Business at PLDT. &#8220;Today, PLDT is a digital media provider. We have a stake and interest in growing entrepreneurship in the Philippines. Thus, we have developed specialized mobile plans to allow Uber partners to conduct their business.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now you can access the Internet for free while riding an Uber Black car. Smart Communications, Inc. together with PLDT\u202f and Voyager Innovations, has entered into a strategic partnership with popular ride-sharing service provider Uber Philippines to offer free in-car Wi-Fi service. The service, the first in Southeast Asia, will initially be available on select [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,19,22],"tags":[2085,343,3420,525],"class_list":["post-10145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apps","category-headlines","category-spotlight","tag-free-internet","tag-smart-communications","tag-uber","tag-voyager-innovations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}