CLARK FREEPORT – Leading telecommunications provider Globe Telecom considers competition in the telco industry good for consumers, citing it as “part of business and healthy”.
Globe Chief Sustainabilty Officer Yolanda Crisanto, also senior vice president for Corporate Communications, said new players and fast growing competitor-firms will also serve subscribers well as they are given choices.
“Globe treats competition fairly. Our values have always been about fair competition (and) having level playing field,” Crisanto said.
Crisanto made the remark during the Media Kumustahan called by Globe for media based in Central and Northern Luzon.
“Competition is part of the business and it is healthy. It allows customers to choose which one suits them best. At the end of day, what is really important is that customers are given the choice,” Crisanto said.
Crisanto said that as answer to question raised by this writer on competitions poised by fastest growing telco provider Converge ICT Solutions (Converge).
“It’s actually them choosing who they want for their service providers. It’s not Globe. It’s the customers,” she added.
For that same question raised two months ago, Alfredo Panlilio, PLDT president and CEO, said that they acknowledge the presence of new players when asked by this writer on the competition coming from Converge and 3rd player Dito Telecommunity (Dito).
“We have a hyper competitive market today. We are battling it out in a big big way in both fields. We do have have competitions both sides (fixed broadband and cellular services),” Panlilio said.
Panlilio expressed confidence that the company would remain strong with its large subscriber base and track record as service provider.
In the media briefing via video conference, Globe reported that it has continued to improve on its LTE signals in Pampanga, addressing areas with spotty connections in the province.
By December 2021, it is expected to reach 315 percent capacity increase with its expanded fiber footprint in Northern Luzon compared to year ago level.
For its mobile network rollout, Globe said it may reach a 128 percent growth in Central Luzon for 2021 versus its own record for 2020. It would be higher for the entire Northern Luzon at 275 percent.
Nationwide, Globe reprted that as of September 2021, it has already achieved one million fiber lines, 13,300 site upgrades, and 1,107 new cell towers.
For its part, Dennis Anthony Uy, president and chief executive officer of Converge, has continued to reach what it calls as “underserved” areas with its one million fiber optic ports are planned under a $200 million investments for the Luzon Belt.
It has laid fiber optic lines from Baguio in the north all the way to Sorsogon in Bicol, making it one of the leading internet service providers with its own infrastructure. The investment costs $42 million which also covers eastern Luzon provinces like Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija.
For Pampanga, Uy said some additional 20,000 ports of fiber optics will be installed in the cities of Angeles, Mabalacat and other adjoining towns.
PLDT posted P15.2 billion core income for the first half of the year, representing a 10 percent increase from the year-ago level of P13.87, bringing the total revenues to P95.62 billion in the first six months of 2021.
