MORE than a hundred years after the first telephone rang--an invention that later revolutionized how humans relate among themselves and with the world--many villages in some remote islands in the Philippines have yet to hear a phone ringing.

This may sound incredulous today when the 20th century--which witnessed the landing of man on the moon, the cloning of a sheep and the discovery of the cyberspace--is about to end and give way to the new millennium.

Among Asian countries, the Philippines still ranks among the lowest in telephone density. In the Visayas, where about 14 million people live, only four phones are available for every 100 persons.

The reason: The Philippines is an archipelago with over 7,000 islands. Some islands, especially in the Visayas, are mountainous where towns and villages can only be reached via the sturdy tricycle, the fragile motor-run banca, or worse by foot.

Putting up telephone lines in the far-flung villages using concrete poles and copper wires would be difficult and costly. That's why telephone firms opt to initially put up public phone stations with a single line or two to serve the people.

But a number of companies have been creatively linking remote towns and villages with the country and the world. One of them is Isla Communications Co. Inc. (Islacom), which has been changing the lives of millions of Filipinos in the Visayas and all over the country--for the better.

The first to introduce digital cellular technology in the country, Islacom has been providing the most advanced telephone services using the superior GSM digital technology of Deutsche Telekom, its strategic partner.

Four remote barangays situated along the mountainous west coast of Cebu, for example, are enjoying the benefits of Islacom's digital phone service for the first time. Thanks to Islacom's Project Bukid.

Project Bukid has made available to residents of barangays Captain Claudio, Bulongan, Tanibag and Lamac the benefits of using an Islacom cellular and prepaid card. These barangays, which have a combined population of 13,000, are now within the reach of Islacoms's cell transmission.

Since the residents, mostly farmers cannot yet afford to buy cellular phones, the most affordable and the easiest way they can have access to a phone is through SIM cards. Each barangay hall is equipped with a P1 Siemens cell phone donated by Islacom. The barangay captain or his designated secretary is trained to activate the SIM card and the loading of the value card.

Teodoro Makiling of barangay Captain Claudio, about 9 kilometers from Toledo City, is among the first and satisfied users of Islacom's prepaid card. He says through Islacom's SIM card, he can now talk to a buyer and both agree on the price before he delivers his farm products to the city's public market. This way he saves time and even gets higher price for his produce.

The Project Bukid system allows both incoming and outgoing calls. Each barangay is allocated a base number true to everyone. An incoming call for Makiling, for instance, is received by the barangay secretary, who then notifies Makiling.

At the barangay hall, Makiling calls back using his SIM card. Since his calls are all charged to his SIM card, the barangay does not shell out money for any call.

Makiling is just one of the Cebu farmers whose lives have improved because of Islacom's Project Bukid. ''Islacom has brought our mountain barangays closer than I thought possible for 10 or 15 years,'' says Aniceto Nadela, barangay of Capt. Claudio.

Fermin Paran, barangay captain of Bolunga, notes the fast contact between his barangay and the neighboring barangays. ''Who would have thought I could be in the nearby barangays and still have instant contact with my barangay?'' Bolunga has about 1,700 residents.

Islacom's Project Bukid has also brought the residents closer to their loved ones here or abroad. ''I was overjoyed to hear the voice of my daughter in California, United States. The last four years I communicated with her only through letters,'' says Solomon Florita of Capt. Claudio.

With Project Bukid, Rosa Makiling now regularly talks to his son studying in Cebu City. ''I can easily track my son's schooling needs in Cebu City. I can always call his dormitory anytime.''

Islacom will soon bring Project Bukid to six barangays in Cebu--Canlumpao, Putingbato, Cambangug, Anopog, Awihao and Malubog. These barangays have more than 14,000 residents.