The largest mobile Operator in the Philippines, Smart Communications posted an impressive 55-percent growth in revenues in the first six months of 2016 to P8.1 billion from P5.2 billion recorded a year ago - supported by increased usage and better monetization of its mobile data business.
The PLDT's wireless subsidiary said that the mobile data business has been bouyed by rising smartphone penetration, rich video content, and availability of affordable high volume data packages. It now accounts for 27 percent of total wireless data and broadband revenues for the period, up from 20 percent a year ago. It believes that converged digital offerings underpinned by a wide array of content and relevant services will further encourage data adoption and usage.
For a seamless customer digital experience, PLDT and Smart have been reinforcing their network capacity to meet the rising demand for more bandwidth in anticipation of higher data traffic. The group is in the midst of a multi-year network build-out that includes continuous network optimization with the expansion of 3G, and 4G/LTE rollout for capacity and coverage; and the rollout of next stage LTE network technology via carrier aggregation.
Ariel P. Fermin, EVP & Head of consumer business for both PLDT and Smart
With the digital pivot, one of the challenges we faced was how to best monetize our digital services. Now we’ve seen improved monetization from the increasing customer demand of our expanding suite of wireless data services.
