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Thursday, March 25, 2004
Telecom firm helps Cebu attract BPO investors
MANILA—Globe Telecom’s wholly owned subsidiary Innove Communications is helping to promote Cebu as a hub for call centers and business process outsourcing (BPOs) companies.
“We assure prospective investors that the things they are looking for, especially their telecommunication needs, are also in Cebu,” Innove chief executive officer Gil Genio said.
He told a press conference at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel that the company plans to continue working with the Cebu local government in marketing Cebu’s potential in serving information technology-related companies.
BPO refers to business lines that can be transformed and delivered through information and communications technology infrastructure.
These include customer contact centers, engineering and design, animation and content creation, distance learning, market research, travel services, finance and accounting services, human resource services and other administrative services like purchasing.
There are now eight contact centers in Cebu including Bigfoot, Sykes Asia, Western Wats and PeopleSupport, with eight more seen to locate in the province this year.
During a forum in Cebu Monday, Department of Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Armin Raquel-Santos said the Philippines is expecting 35,000 new jobs in call centers this year.
These job numbers are for the call centers that already signed contracts last year, he said.
Revenues
During the Sun.Star Economic Forum 2004 earlier this month, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Lilia Bautista also said the DTI anticipates revenues from the call center industry to reach $864 million this year.
Innove’s Internet and data arm, GlobeQuest, has been investing in infrastructure to meet the Internet and data access needs of these companies.
Innove offers both wireline voice and data services.
According to Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer Gerardo Ablaza, the substantial growth of call centers and BPOs in the Philippines has contributed to the growth of the company’s wireline business.
He said falling bandwidth prices had perked up demand for corporate data services in general.
“The potential for corporate wireline data is showing good signs. Last year, we captured close to 50 percent of this segment. Our wireline data revenues reached P1.4 billion,” Ablaza said.
Meanwhile, he said the prospects for wireline voice remain challenging, as revenues have remained flat in the last three years.
The wireless business continued to be the driver of earnings for Globe, registering a net income of P11.9 billion last year.
Total wireless penetration of the industry in the country last year reached 27 percent, Ablaza said.
He said the growth of the wireless sector came amid the decline in SIM prices by at least 75 percent, the introduction of low denomination reloads, and lower handset prices. JBN/with CTL
(March 25, 2004 issue)
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