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THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) expects telecom
companies to post lower income per mobile-phone user this year owing
to costlier food and fuel.
Edgardo Cabarios, NTC director for common
carrier and authorization, said the telcos’ average revenue per
user (ARPU) is likely to decline because of higher inflation.
Inflation surged at a nine-year high of 9.6
percent last May, while the first-quarter economic growth slowed to
5.2 percent.
“They [subscribers] are expected to reduce
spending for text messaging and calls,” Cabarios said.
In the first quarter, Globe Telecom Inc.’s
ARPU for prepaid dropped by 28 percent to P290 from P353 in the same
period last year. Touch Mobile’s ARPU fell 29 percent to P154.
For Globe’s postpaid plans, the ARPU went down
by 6 percent to P2,038 from P2,170 previously.
Smart Communications Inc.’s ARPU went down by
10 percent to P292 from P323 for prepaid, while Talk ‘N Text’s
ARPU fell 9 percent to P207 from P228 last year.
For Smart postpaid, the ARPU was down by 2
percent to P2,013 from P2,045.
ARPU is computed for each month by dividing the
revenues for the relevant services by the average of the number of
subscribers at the beginning and at the end of the month.
In the first three months of the year, the
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) group—which includes
Smart and the Talk ’N Text brand of Pilipino Telephone Co.
recorded a total of 31.6 million subscribers. Globe had 21.3 million
subscribers.
Besides economic factors, the increasing number
of multi-SIM (subscribers identification module) users also dilutes
telcos’ ARPU.
Gerardo Ablaza, Globe president and chief
executive earlier said the company expects to see continued growth
in the mobile industry, albeit at a muted pace compared with last
year. He said business prospects would largely take their cue from
the macro economy.
“The strength of the peso and its impact on
the spending patterns of the [overseas Filipino worker] families
will continue to bring uncertainty. Likewise, the rise in crude oil
prices in the global markets and its impact on our domestic economy
may exert pressure on both our top-line growth ad cost of inputs,”
he said.
Manuel Pangilinan, PLDT chairman, had said that
a global slowdown will take its toll on all businesses, adding the
peso-dollar exchange rate will continue to impact on the company’s
financials.
PLDT reported a net income of P10.4 billion in
the first quarter of the year, while Globe had P3.4 billion.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
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