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GLOBE Telecom Inc. on Thursday said that its
acquisition of Touch Mobile (TM) subscribers’ contracts will allow
it to offer flexible tariffs and promotional offerings.
The Ayala-led telecom company’s
move will result in tighter competition amid the rising food prices
and global economic slowdown.
“The transfer of TM subscribers
to Globe will leap revenues and subscribers this year and beyond,”
Delfin Gonzalez, Globe chief financial officer, told reporters.
With the transfer, the company
has removed the access charge to TM, resulting in lower charges for
both Globe and TM, he said.
TM addresses the broad
middle-class and mass markets particularly in areas outside Metro
Manila.
Gonzales said Globe will pay
Innove Communications P1 billion for the transfer of TM’s
subscriber contracts. He said the cost of acquisition per subscriber
will amount to P125.
At end-March, TM’s subscribers
had grown 46 percent to 8.1 million from 5.6 million in the same
period last year, while Globe had 12.4 million. The acquisition
would raise Globe’s subscriber base to 21.3 million.
Besides the acquisition cost,
Globe will pay Innove a retention bonus for every migrated
subscriber that stays with the Ayala-led telco.
The National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) approved the acquisition on May 13.
Ferdinand M. de la Cruz,
Globe’s consumer wireless business head, said the regulatory
approval will pave the way for promo packages to attract more
subscribers.
De la Cruz expects the merger to
increase the company’s market share.
At present, Globe’s share of
the market stands at 38 percent, while rival Smart Communications
Inc. and Pilipino Telephone Corp. have a combined 55-percent share.
Sun Cellular has another 6 percent to 7 percent.
Globe earlier reported that its
net income reached P3.4 billion in the first quarter of the year, 32
percent higher than last year’s P2.6 billion. This year’s
results included one-time charges of P1.3 billion for the early
redemption of debt.
Excluding non-recurring items,
the telco’s core net income was down 4 percent to P3.5 billion.
Globe said consolidated service
revenues stood at P15.5 billion, at par with last year’s level
despite a more difficult macroeconomic environment this year.
--Darwin G. Amojelar
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