Alex O. Caeg, PLDT Global Corp. (PGC) president and chief executive, said, "We continue to expand our subscriber (base) using MVNO or branded partnership in countries where the population of Filipinos is (large)."
Caeg said that of 8.6 million Filipinos living overseas, 3.6 million are in America, 1 million in East Asia, 2.4 million in West Asia; 389,000 in Oceania,722,000 in Europe and 330,000 sea-based.
Caeg another way to increase subscribers is by tapping new markets within the current MVNO areas, including Indonesia, India and Thailand.
PLDT’s MVNO services are present in Hong Kong and Singapore through partnerships with leading mobile operator CSL and Mobile One, respectively. At present, they have a total of 100,000 MVNO subscribers.
Enrique Yu, PLDT Global head for carrier relations and sales management, said PLDT plans to increase its MVNO subscriber base in Hong Kong and Singapore by providing new products and services such as broadband television, new mobile remittance service and reselling of other PLDT and Smart products, among others.
A total of 169,000 Filipinos reside in Hong Kong and 163,000 in Singapore, spending about $190 per month on telecommunication services.
The average monthly telecom spending in Asia (excluding Japan), Europe and US amounts to $58, $160 and $190, respectively. The average number of calls to the Philippines per week in Asia and Europe is four times and two times, respectively.
The average remittance to the Philippines from these markets is P6,000 or 50 percent of the OFW’s income.
Last year, PLDT Global posted P3 billion in revenues and expected growth of 10 percent this year.
