Internet café owners in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental were introduced by Microsoft Philippines and Biometrix Philippines Corp. to possible business opportunities that would enable them to engage in business process outsourcing at the same time.

At the business opportunity seminar held in a Bacolod hotel yesterday, George Parrilla, marketing manager of Microsoft Southern Philippines, said they aim to provide opportunities for Internet café owners to maximize their infrastructure to earn additional revenues.

Parrilla said that during the summit they organized in January, additional revenue sources were among the concerns raised by internet café operators from southern Philippines aside from licensing and financing. Boy Bawal, Microsoft director for Southern Philippines, said he believes that if they help internet café owners find ways to earn money, they will also have the means to buy license and avoid being raided for using pirated software.

Internet cafés are important, he said, because they allow Filipinos who don't own computers to have access to cyberspace. Microsoft, with assistance from Biometrix, provides operators software solutions and training modules for internet cafés to enable them to operate as legitimate call centers or outsourcing facilities.

John Marvin Cruz, Biometrix Philippines marketing manager, also presented his company's offerings which includes telecommunications connectivity, solutions and services under "4G MetroBroadband" and a next generation network-based service platform.*NLG

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