TELECOMMUNICATION company Globe Telecom considers competition poised by new players and fast-growing competitor firms in the telco industry good for consumers.
Citing it as “part of business and healthy,” Globe Chief Sustainability Officer Yolanda Crisanto, also senior vice president for Corporate Communications, said that competition will also serve subscribers well as they are given choices.
“Globe treats competition fairly. Our values have always been about fair competition (and) having a level playing field,” Crisanto said.
Crisanto made the remark during the “Media Kumustahan” called by Globe for media based in Central and Northern Luzon.
“Competition is part of the business and it is healthy. It allows customers to choose which one suits them best. At the end of the day, what is really important is that customers are given the choice,” Crisanto said.
She said this as an answer to a question raised by this writer on competitions poised by fastest-growing telco provider Converge ICT Solutions (Converge).
“It’s actually them choosing who they want for their service providers. It’s not Globe. It’s the customers,” she added.
New players
For that same question raised two months ago, Alfredo Panlilio, PLDT president and CEO, said that they acknowledge the presence of new players when asked by this writer about the competition coming from Converge and third player Dito Telecommunity (Dito).
“We have a hyper-competitive market today. We are battling it out in a big big way in both fields. We do have competitions on both sides (fixed broadband and cellular services),” Panlilio said.
Panlilio expressed confidence that the company would remain strong with its large subscriber base and track record as a service provider.
In the media briefing via video conference, Globe reported that it has continued to improve on its LTE signals in Pampanga, addressing areas with spotty connections in the province.
By December 2021, it is expected to reach a 315-percent capacity increase with its expanded fiber footprint in Northern Luzon compared to a year ago.
For its mobile network rollout, Globe said it may reach a 128 percent growth in Central Luzon for 2021 versus its record for 2020. It would be higher for the entire Northern Luzon at 275 percent.
Nationwide, Globe reported that as of September 2021, it has already achieved one million fiber lines, 13,300 site upgrades and 1,107 new cell towers.
”Underserved”
For its part, Converge has continued to reach what it calls “underserved” areas with its one million fiber optic ports planned under a $200 million investment for the Luzon Belt, said Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge president and chief executive officer.
It has laid fiber-optic lines from Baguio in the north to Sorsogon in Bicol, making it one of the leading internet service providers with its infrastructure. The investment costs $42 million which also covers eastern Luzon provinces like Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija.
For Pampanga, Uy said some additional 20,000 ports of fiber optics will be installed in the cities of Angeles, Mabalacat and other adjoining towns.
PLDT posted P15.2 billion core income for the first half of the year, representing a 10 percent increase from the year-ago level of P13.87, bringing the total revenues to P95.62 billion in the first six months of 2021. (Noel G. Tulabut/SunStar Pampanga)