Globe most popular Internet service provider -- study

GLOBE Telecom is the most popular mobile Internet service provider in the country, according to the annual consumer study jointly conducted by Yahoo Southeast Asia and Nielsen. The Yahoo! Net Index 2011, now on its third year, was participated in by a total of 1,500 respondents across all socio-economic classes living in 22 major cities in the country. It used a two-part structured questionnaire to determine Internet usage and behavior, which included mobile Internet, or access of the Internet via the mobile phone. The study also revealed that the Philippines stands apart as the only country in Southeast Asia where women make up a higher proportion of mobile Internet users than men at 57 percent versus 43 percent. It also disclosed that growth in mobile Internet activity came from the youth segment and those from the lower economic groups who use affordable handsets bundled with bite-size voice and data plans for sending e-mails, social networking, instant messaging, and search engines. "Accessing the Internet on mobile is rapidly growing across Southeast Asia. By and large we see similar trends across the region in terms of use and access at home, the young demography, affordable handsets and bite-sized prepaid data plans all driving mobile internet growth,” David Jeffs, head of Insights for Yahoo! Southeast Asia said. “As more Filipinos access the Web via mobile, this will allow telecom companies achieve economies of scale and bring down tariffs, in turn adding further stimulus to mobile Internet growth,” Jeffs said. With the rapid penetration of social media and availability of more affordable smartphones among Filipino mobile phone owners, Globe looks at its mobile data business to sustain momentum after the segment posted substantial growth in revenues in the third quarter of last year. At end-September last year, the company’s mobile browsing revenues rose to more than P1.4 billion, a 64 percent increase from last year’s levels on the back of the company’s strong portfolio of new services that promote the use of mobile internet for social networking, search engine, e-mail services as well as entertainment through the use of mobile applications or apps. To further increase penetration of mobile Internet among Filipinos, especially those who give value to their money, Globe recently made its Postpaid PowerSurf plans even better with the implementation of a P999 bill cap to help users avoid bill shock. “Mobile browsing has definitely revolutionized the Philippine telecommunications industry with the growing demand for an easier and more accessible way to be connected to the World Wide Web,” Ernest Cu, president and chief executive of Globe said. To support the suite of mobile Internet services that Globe offers, the company earlier announced that it would embark on a US$ 790-million network modernization program to prepare its network for more bandwidth-heavy services such as broadband and data. The massive modern network roll out is expected to provide subscribers with a more stable and reliable network coverage nationwide, giving them an unparalleled service experience when they text, call and surf on their mobile phones.