MANILA, Philippines, March 13, 2015 – The Philippines’ biggest telco and multimedia provider PLDT leads the broadband market as it registered a strong 19% year-on-year growth in its broadband subscribers to reach over four million at the end of 2014, following sustained expansion in its fixed and wireless broadband subscriber base.
“We are pleased to see that the PLDT Group remains the preferred broadband provider in the country, whether among corporates, at home, or on the go, as we continuously strive to bring the most innovative products and services to our subscribers that allow them to live connected,” PLDT President and CEO Napoleon Nazareno said.
The PLDT Group which includes PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, PLDT SME Nation, PLDT HOME, and mobile subsidiaries Smart Communications and Sun Cellular cornered almost 60% of total broadband subscribers in the country.
Nazareno said that with PLDT's formidable integrated network, the Group is able to offer a variety of broadband plans which are available at different price points depending on the speed and volume needed by the customer.
PLDT spent over P34.8 billion in capital expenditures in 2014 as it expanded its fiber network to nearly 100,000 kilometers, making it the most extensive, robust and resilient network in the country. Such network is needed for reliable broadband services that can simultaneously deliver voice, video, and data offerings at faster speeds and larger capacities through various devices from computers, tablets, and cellphones, to television sets. In anticipation of greater data usage, PLDT is planning to spend another P39 billion in capital expenditures in 2015.
PLDT’s total fixed broadband subscribers jumped 13% to 1.1 million, representing over 70% of the total market, and now accounting for almost 50% of the fixed line subscriber base.
Smart broadband subscribers increased by 21% from its year-ago level to over 2.3 million in 2014, about 1.8 million of whom were on Smart Broadband’s prepaid service. On the other hand, Sun Cellular broadband subscriber base grew by 24% to over 676,000. On combined basis, the PLDT group's wireless broadband subscriber base of nearly 3 million accounts for about 56% of the market.
PLDT also reported earlier that its wireless units Smart and Sun Cellular continued to dominate the mobile postpaid segment with a 16% increase in subscriber base to over 2.8 million, outpacing that of competition. This also represents 55% of the total Philippine mobile postpaid market.
“We have seen a significant jump in our wireless broadband subscribers following the “Free Internet” offer in the last quarter of 2014. This is part of the suite of services under our “Internet for All” advocacy which is expanding rapidly,” Smart Chief Wireless Adviser Orlando Vea said.
He added that this campaign allows for a wide-ranging collaboration with the likes of Google for Android One handsets, consumer giant McDonald’s for free coupons, and global multimedia player Disney for unique interactive content.
