Smart remains to be the leader in SIM registration, with 67% of its subscribers already registered as of May 1.
After months of mounting its SIM registration campaign across various channels, which included a dedicated SIM registration portal and nationwide on-ground initiatives to assist subscribers in registering their SIMs,
Smart is intensifying its SIM Registration efforts via multiple platforms following the government’s announcement of the extension of the SIM Registration period for 90 more days.
Meanwhile, PLDT’s Individual Wireless segment posted revenues of ₱19.8 billion in the first quarter of 2023, showing stable revenues year-on-year despite the impact of SIM registration, continued high inflation and the seasonal dip in consumer spending after the Christmas holidays.
Mobile data revenues grew by 4% to ₱17.0 billion as data usage per subscriber and data traffic continued to register year-on-year increases. In the first quarter, mobile data traffic rose 18% to 1,191 Petabytes, demonstrating improving year-on-year trends and helping arrest the decline of revenues compared to the same period last year. Active data users were estimated at around 39 million, while average monthly mobile data usage per subscriber grew by 15% to 10.6 GB in the first quarter of 2023 from 9.2 GB for the full year 2022.
The first quarter also saw further strengthening of the Smart brand, with both Smart Prepaid and Smart Postpaid revenues in the first three months of 2023 higher than the same period in 2022.
Meanwhile, TNT’s prepaid business has also shown improving trends, even as its subscribers are more impacted by SIM registration and inflation.
“These results were bolstered by the launch of Smart’s “Live More Today” brand campaign, which helped deliver Smart’s stronger brand promise, connect Smart with the target market and differentiate it from competitors. Smart Live events, such as the Harry Styles concert, also enabled Smart to connect with its subscribers among Gen Z,” said Francis E. Flores, SVP and Head of Consumer Business Group – Individual.
Demonstrating its continued dominance, Smart’s wireless network has once again been recognized for delivering the country’s fastest download speeds by Ookla during the first quarter of 2023. This comes in the wake of Smart’s citation as the Philippines’ Best Mobile Network for Q1-Q2 and Q3-Q4 2022. To earn these citations, a mobile operator must lead in two crucial Ookla Speedtest Awards TM categories, namely Fastest Mobile Network and Best Mobile Coverage, for the same periods.
