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.