(May 10, 2011)
Globe Telecom, Inc (
PSE:
GLO). delivered strong results, with first quarter consolidated revenues reaching a record high of P16.5 billion. The growth momentum in the mobile business was sustained, resulting in service revenues of P13.1 billion. The fixed line and broadband business likewise posted strong revenue performance, surpassing last year’s level by 26% to close at P3.4 billion.
The mobile business posted improvements on most key subscriber metrics, for both the postpaid and prepaid brands. In the first quarter, gross acquisitions for the postpaid brand soared to a new record of over 120,000, anchored on the popularity of the new personalized and affordable subscription plans.
Globe Postpaid subscribers stood at about 1.1 million by quarter-end, 30% higher than last year’s level of around 880,000. Prepaid subscribers grew 14% to 26.2 million. This growth was driven by breakthrough services such as
SuperAllTxt and
AstigTxtAll, the market’s first bucket, all-network text service for Globe Prepaid and TM subscribers, and
SuperUnli, an unlimited, intra-network call and text offer. At the end of the first quarter, Globe had a total of 27.3 million subscribers.
The broadband business similarly sustained its expansion with subscriber base now at around 1.2 million. Growth continued to come from
Globe Broadband Tattoo, the Company’s nomadic broadband service, and from
Globe WiMAX, the Company’s fixed wireless service for at-home use. Wireless broadband subscribers now account for 78% of the total broadband subscriber base.
“Our earlier programs are already translating to improvements in our financial results,” said
Ernest L. Cu, President and CEO of Globe Telecom, Inc. “This will provide us the momentum to take on greater challenges ahead, with the market consolidating and
Globe now up against an even larger competitor. We will remain focused on differentiating through superior customer experience, and introducing more compelling, relevant products, to include not just core services such as voice and SMS, but also innovations to develop the nascent but highly promising market for mobile internet. The upgrade and modernization of our network infrastructure will also remain a key priority, to enable our networks and platforms to quickly adapt to this fast-moving market,” said Mr. Cu.
To date, the Company has already deployed its 4G mobile technology in 19 pilot areas in Metro Manila which includes Marikina, Quezon City, Makati, Pasay, Las Pinas, Taguig, and Manila. Current subscribers using 3G-enabled mobile phones and those using their broadband dongles in 4G-covered areas will already experience improvements in their calls, text and data services. Starting May 2011, the Company will offer 4G-enabled handsets, devices, and applications to allow subscribers to truly enjoy the 4G mobile experience.
In the first quarter, Globe capitalized on the recent success of its first-in-the-market personalized postpaid plans by reinforcing its service offering with the ALL NEW
My Super Plan that gives subscribers greater flexibility in designing their plans. With the ALL NEW My Super Plan, subscribers determine the monthly service fee that best fits their budget by choosing to subscribe to either an All-Unlimited Plan or to an All-Consumable Plan. From this base fee, subscribers pick monthly add-on unlimited services such as calls, text, or mobile browsing to boost their plans. Subscribers also choose the freebies, comprising of bulk voice, bucket text and mobile surfing hours, to come with their postpaid plans. To make it even more enticing, Globe provides the latest handsets and device bundles for free or at a discount to new postpaid subscriptions. Similar to the earlier customized plans, subscribers are allowed to change these freebies and unlimited services as often as monthly.
In addition to the enhanced postpaid plans, Globe introduced another breakthrough offering, MY SUPERTXT ALL, the first-ever unlimited text service to all networks for its postpaid subscribers. Alternatively, subscribers of the ALL NEW My Super Plan may avail of MY SUPERTXT ALL as a monthly add-on service to their postpaid plans.
With mobile data usage gaining momentum, and to complement its suite of affordable data plans, Globe launched promotional deals that offered the latest smartphones and tablet devices from Samsung, Huawei and HTC at affordable prices with its Super Smartphone Deals. During the period, the Company also expanded its mobile data services for its Globe Prepaid subscribers with the launch of
Super Facebook, a data subscription plan which provides 5 straight hours of mobile surfing on Facebook. Alternatively, for users who just access the internet from time to time, Globe introduced a new variant of its
PowerSurf offering. PowerSurf15 provides subscribers 1 hour of mobile internet browsing valid for 1 day.
For Globe Prepaid, the Company also enhanced its bucket text offering SuperAll Txt 20 by now providing 250 all-network text messages from just 200 messages during its launch in late 2010. The service remains affordable which stays at the same price of P20 for 1 day. For the broadband business, meanwhile, Globe started the year with a revitalized campaign underpinned by the All-New Globe Tattoo: No Limits. Bannered by new brand ambassadors, Tattoo Broadband presented a new Tattoo logo and signature colors which provide an edgier and more vibrant look and feel. To kick-off the summer season, Globe launched barkada-friendly deals allowing subscribers to buy 3 prepaid Tattoo kits and get 1 Tattoo stick for free for only P3,735. This effectively reduced the price of each Tattoo stick to only P933.75, 25% lower than the regular price of P1,245 per stick. During the period, Globe also introduced
SurfTxt60, the first-ever surf and text combo offer available to prepaid broadband dongle users.
To enable subscribers to enjoy better, faster, and more reliable data connections, Globe recently announced that it is embarking on the country’s first commercial rollout of 4G mobile technology. Globe is utilizing the global standard HSPA+ or Evolved High-Speed Packet Access for its 4G mobile network. HSPA+ is a 4G wireless, mobile, high speed broadband technology that provides peak theoretical download speeds of up to 21 Mbps with upgradeability for 84 Mbps. Under the Globe HSPA+ network, subscribers are expected to enjoy data browsing at an average speed of 4-6 Mbps with even faster peak speeds.
Source: PSE Disclosure
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