Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has launched a new unit aimed at providing solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), which make up over 99 percent of the total number of enterprises in the country.

“These companies are aspirational—they want to be big, they know there is a market out there, but they are devoid of a full-fledged information-technology department,” group head Katrina Luna-Abelarde told the BusinessMirror during the group’s launch in Cebu.

“We will help small businesses use technology to be able to grow.”

Luna-Abelarde said SMEs had been wandering in the middle of the spectrum between huge corporate accounts and household consumers of telecommunications groups.

“They have special needs, and we want to focus on that and send someone in the ground working for them. More than the pricing, these businesses want someone to understand them,” she said.

Luna-Abelarde said SMEs make up 99 percent of the total 700,000 businesses in the country—a market PLDT SME wants to serve. The group is targeting the 10,001th to the 70,000th-ranked companies in its initial phase.

The three-month-old unit will offer a wide array of services from web-site builders to tracking systems and security setups in stores.

“Something we have over our competition is our [PLDT] reach all over the country either by lines or wireless,” Luna- Abelarde said.

PLDT and mobile-phones arm Smart report a 99.6-percent connectivity coverage nationwide.

PLDT SME’s strategy is to make IT-based solutions simpler and more affordable to businesses through partnerships with business groups all over the country.

The group is planning to mount road shows and technology trainings in cities and towns nationwide to help fledgling businesses reach their potential.

Nilo Banitlan, PLDT SME group’s head for the Visayas and Mindanao, said in their first few months of operations, they have been hitting 80 percent of their monthly targets. He said most of the companies they have been helping out are still discovering the advantages of having broadband and working web site to sell their products.

Luna-Abelarde said the Cebu launch was strategic, since Cebu is home to SMEs that made it big. She cited as examples Julie’s Bakeshop and its 500 outlets nationwide, Penshoppe and the highly successful export furniture and fashion accessories industry.

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Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has launched a new unit aimed at providing solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), which make up over 99 percent of the total number of enterprises in the country.