Brief introduction of WLC's newest partner, APC. We shall be
updating this page soon to reflect prepaid cards that shall be
up for sale in all WLC outlets.
The
Company
Advantage Products Corp. (APC)
began operations in Dec. 1997. APC was one of the first companies
to foresee the explosive growth of pre-paid phonecards and set
out to become a nationwide distributor for all types of phonecards.
APC's big break came with landing the 7-11 account, which comprises
40% of total sales volume.
From
its humble beginnings at Makati Cinema Square, the company has
since built a nationwide distribution backbone with two offices
in Pasig, and branches in Baguio, Dagupan, Calamba, Cebu, Iloilo,
Cagayan de Oro, and Davao. APC presently employs 83 full-time
staff, and another eight promo girls on contract.
APC
is presently an authorized distributor for all the major carriers-a
significant accomplishment for such a young company since there
are only 4-6 distributors per carrier.
In 1999, the company expanded from distribution into retail by
installing phonecard vending machines in high traffic locations.
Furthermore, last April, the companyd its first full-blown
retail outlet in Makati called Mobile1. The 150 m2 store is located
at the Park Square Mall in Ayala Center. More Mobile1 branches
are expected toby 1Q2001.
Despite the start-up costs involved in developing new lines of
business, the company has been in the black for the past year.
The
Shareholders
Vincent D. Grey, the company's Chairman & President,
is a telecom industry professional. Mr. Grey was most recently
with Marsman-Drysdale Group where he was acting President of Universal
Telecommunications Service, Inc. (1997-98), a nationwide trunked-radio
operator. Mr. Grey also looked after the Group's minority investments
in Pocketbell, Sky Cable, and the local bottler of Pepsi Cola.
Mr.
Grey's first exposure to telecommunications was at Islacom where
he was VP for Cellular from 1995-96. Prior to returning to the
Philippines in 1994, Mr. Grey was based in the U.S. and Spain
for 4 years while working at FMC Corporation, a large multinational
with over US$4B in revenues and operations throughout the world.
Mr. Grey moved up the ranks in the finance function at FMC.
In
addition to running APC, Mr. Grey is a consultant for Union Fenosa,
a Spanish power concern that is a shareholder in Meralco.
Mr. Grey has an MBA from Tuck School at Dartmouth College, and
a B.S. in Management (Honors Program) from Ateneo de Manila University.
Eugenio
R. Villanueva began his marketing and management career with
San Miguel Corporation in 1988 as a Management Trainee. While
at SMC, he was also exposed to the operations of Magnolia, Nestle
and Coke. In 1991, Mr. Villanueva moved to Lintas as the Account
Director for various multinational accounts. From 1994-96, prior
to returning to Manila to head one of his family businesses, Mr.
Villanueva worked in Hong Kong and Bangkok as Bozell's VP-Group
Account Director. Aside from managing large accounts such as Chrysler
and Carlsberg, he was involved in forging the joint venture between
Bozell and its Thai affiliate.
Mr. Villanueva is Vice President & Treasurer of APC. In addition,
he oversees the 7-eleven account for the company. Mr. Villanueva
is also an active Director in all his family businesses ranging
from agriculture and real estate to IT and cable distribution.
The Telecom Industry
APC distributes all types of prepaid phonecards for various applications-i.e.
payphones, long-distance, cellular and internet. The market has
grown rapidly since 1998 when sales of PLDT Fonkard (for payphones)
took off. Today, cellular cards lead the way comprising 85% of
the total market.
Projections
until 2001 come from Globe Telecom. From 2002 onwards, we assumed
less robust growth of 15% p.a., a very conservative rate. There
is no doubt that one day there will be 15 million cellphone users
in the Philippines. The only question is when. If this happens
earlier than 2005, the financial projections will look even better.
