Philippines - Key Statistics, Telecommunications Market and Fixed Network Operators

Synopsis

While the telecom sector in the Philippines has witnessed considerable investment and activity since deregulation, the market has fallen short of its potential. However, the market has achieved much by finding a different direction from what was envisaged. The mobile market has been particularly energetic for some years now, with a genuine revolution in the development of SMS as an effective communications service. Even more significant ultimately has been the recent expansion in the broadband Internet sector. Broadband is finally building a healthy subscriber base, boosted by the considerable presence of wireless services in the mix of broadband platforms delivering service. Whilst the global financial problems, certainly caused some problems for the local telecom market, the negative impact seems to have dissipated. This report provides a statistical overview of the Philippines telecoms market together with some information on the way the market is developing. The report also includes some brief outlines covering the major fixed-line operators. The difficulty in obtaining accurate statistical information on this market is noted.

Key developments:

In the telecom regulatory area, key developments include: the NTC substantially increased administration fees for telecoms operators; pressure building on regulator to release more spectrum for wireless broadband services; the regulator published draft recommendations on the minimum speed of broadband connections; PLDT under siege on the issue of foreign ownership of its shares, with court ruling against the operator; the NTC was working with the mobile operators to reduce interconnection fees for both voice calls and text messages.

Companies covered in this report include:

PLDT, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Liberty Telecom, Bayantel, Bell Telecom, Digitel, Eastern Telecom (ETPI), Innove (Globe), PT&T, PhilCom.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Key statistics
• 3. Country overview
  • 3.1 Background
  • 3.2 Economy
• 4. Telecommunications market
  • 4.1 Overview
  • 4.2 PLDT’s acquisition of Digitel
  • 4.3 Background to development
  • 4.4 Domination of mobile telephony
• 5. Regulatory environment
  • 5.1 Regulatory authorities
    • 5.1.1 National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
    • 5.1.2 Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT)
  • 5.2 NTC outlook
  • 5.3 Regulatory developments
    • 5.3.1 Release of spectrum
    • 5.3.2 Regulator’s fees
    • 5.3.3 Broadband speed
    • 5.3.4 Interconnection fees
    • 5.3.5 Billing
    • 5.3.6 SMS
    • 5.3.7 Promotions
    • 5.3.8 SMS and taxation issues
    • 5.3.9 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services
  • 5.4 Telecom sector liberalisation
  • 5.5 Foreign ownership
• 6. Major fixed-network operators
  • 6.1 Fixed-line operator statistics
  • 6.2 Bayantel
    • 6.2.1 Financial difficulties
    • 6.2.2 Fixed-mobile services
  • 6.3 Bell Telecom
  • 6.4 Digitel
  • 6.5 Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc (ETPI)
  • 6.6 Globe Telecom (Innove)
    • 6.6.1 Operational statistics
    • 6.6.2 Background
  • 6.7 PhilCom
  • 6.8 PLDT
    • 6.8.1 Overview
    • 6.8.2 Background
  • 6.9 Liberty Telecom
• 7. Related reports

• Table 1 – Country statistics – 2011
• Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2010
• Table 3 – Internet user statistics – 2010
• Table 4 – Broadband statistics – June 2011
• Table 5 – Mobile statistics – June 2011
• Table 6 – National telecommunications authorities
• Table 7 – Philippines’ GDP real growth rate – 2006 - 2011
• Table 8 – Fixed-line operators, lines, subscribers and market share – September 2010
• Table 9 – Bayantel’s fixed-line subscribers – 2000 - 2001; 2006 - 2010
• Table 10 – Globe Telecom fixed-line subscribers – 2002 - 2010
• Table 11 – Globe Telecom broadband subscribers – 2006 - 2011