Philippines Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 15 Oct 2026 Update History

Report Status: Current

Report Pages: 179

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Philippine telcos invest to increase subsea cable capacity

PLDT and Globe Telecom have maintained their dominance in the Philippines telecom market. The new entrant DITO Telecommunity became the third national operator in 2017, and by mid-2026 it had gained about 11% of the mobile market by subscribers. NOW Telecom also gained a licence in 2020, and though it claimed to be the fourth operator, it lacked the spectrum and financial resources to compete effectively. Running up debts to the regulator and having failed to use its spectrum, the company had its mobile licence rescinded in April 2025.

The mobile sector remains the Philippines’ primary market for telecommunications, dominating voice and data. The unique terrain and resulting challenges associated with accessing remote parts of the archipelago mean that in many areas fixed networks are neither cost-effective nor logistically viable. To address the lack of services in remote areas, PLDT and Globe resell Starlink’s LEO satellite broadband service in the Philippines. These deals extended mobile coverage to the small proportion of the Filipino population their networks did not already cover.

Key Developments

Globe Telecom, PLDT, and Converge ICT Solutions propose investing PhP30.6 billion in a subsea fibre network to improve connectivity across the Philippines.
Smart Communications and Globe Telecom expand direct-to-device mobile satellite services.
Konektadong Pinoy Act comes into force to improve telecom market competition.
AST SpaceMobile launches an additional three BlueBird LEO satellites.
PLDT to list its data centre assets under a REIT framework.
Report update includes the regulator’s market data updates, telcos’ data to Q2 2026, and recent market developments.

Key companies mentioned in this report:

PLDT, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, DITO Telecommunity, NOW Telecom, Huawei, Nokia, Alibaba Cloud

Key statistics
Regional Asia market comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Telecommunications market

Market overview

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authority

Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT)
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)

Fixed-line developments

Interconnection
Foreign ownership rules
Access
Philippines Digital Infrastructure Project
National Digital Connectivity Plan (NDCP)

Mobile network developments

SIM registration
Mobile spectrum
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Network sharing

Mobile market

Major mobile operators

Smart Communications
Globe Telecom
NOW Telecom
Dito Telecommunity

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G / LTE
Mobile satellite
M-payments

Mobile broadband

Fixed broadband market

Fixed broadband statistics
Fixed broadband service providers

PLDT
Globe Telecom

Fixed broadband technologies

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
Wi-Fi

Fixed network market

Fixed network operators

PLDT
Globe Telecom

Telecommunications infrastructure

National telecom network

National Broadband Network (NBN)
Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)

International infrastructure

Submarine
International gateway facilities (IGFs)
Satellite systems

Data Centres

Data centre providers

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – 2027 (e)
Table 2 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2015 – 2029
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers by major operator (million) – 2013 – 2026
Table 4 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by MNO – 2013 – 2026
Table 5 – Change in the total number of PLDT’s mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2026
Table 6 – Change in the number of PLDT’s mobile subscribers by type – 2020 – 2026
Table 7 – Change in the number of Smart’s mobile subscribers by category (million) – 2009 – 2026
Table 8– Growth in the number of Sun Cellular’s mobile subscribers by category (million) – 2011 – 2022
Table 9 – Change in the number of TNT’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2026
Table 10 – Development of Smart’s mobile ARPU by category (PhP/subscriber/month) – 2009 – 2026
Table 11 – Development of Sun Cellular’s mobile ARPU by category (PhP/subscriber/month) – 2011 – 2022
Table 12 – Change in TNT’s mobile ARPU – 2009 – 2026
Table 13 – Development of PLDT’s mobile revenue by type (PhP million) – 2020 – 2026
Table 14 – Change in the number of Globe Telecom’s mobile subscribers by type (million) – 2015 – 2026
Table 15 – Globe Telecom’s prepaid mobile subscribers by brand (million) – 2012 – 2026
Table 16 – Development of Globe Telecom’s mobile ARPU by segment (PhP/subscriber/month) – 2013 – 2026
Table 17 – Development of Globe Telecom’s mobile revenue by service (PhP million) – 2012 – 2026
Table 22 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2015 – 2029
Table 23 – Growth in the number of PLDT’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2014 – 2026
Table 24 – Change in PLDT’s fixed broadband ARPU – 2012 – 2022
Table 26 – Growth in the number of Globe Telecom’s fixed and fixed wireless broadband subscribers (million) – 2016 – 2026
Table 27 – Increase in PLDT’s domestic fibre network length – 2017 – 2022
Table 28 – Increase in the number of PLDT’s FttP premises (million) – 2017 – 2025
Table 31 – Development of PLDT’s fixed-line service revenue by type (PhP million) – 2020 – 2026
Table 34 – Change in the number of PLDT’s fixed-line subscribers – 2014 – 2026
Table 36 – Development of Globe Telecom’s service revenue by type (PhP million) – 2012 – 2026
Table 37 – Growth in the number of Globe Telecom’s fixed-line voice subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Table 38 – Change in the number of fixed lines and penetration – 2015 – 2029
Table 40 – Historic - Mobile services revenue – 2006 – 2014
Table 41 – Historic - Total mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995 – 2014
Table 42 – Historic - Globe Telecom’s mobile subscribers – 2001 – 2014
Table 43 – Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2007 – 2014
Table 44 – Historic - PLDT’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2013
Table 45 – Historic - PLDT’s fixed-line subscribers – 2011 – 2013
Table 46 – Historic - Internet users and penetration – 2007 – 2016
Table 47 – Historic - PLDT broadband subscribers – 2005 – 2010
Table 48 – Historic - PLDT fixed-line subscribers – 2001 – 2010
Table 49 – Historic - PLDT’s mobile subscribers – 2006 – 2012
Table 50 – Historic - Growth in the number of PLDT’s fixed-line broadband subscribers – 2008 – 2010
Table 51 – Historic - Globe Telecom fixed-line subscribers – 2002 – 2012
Table 52 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and penetration – 1995 – 2014
Table 53 – Historic - Growth in the number of Globe Telecom’s broadband subscribers – 2007 – 2012
Table 54 – Historic - PLDT’s Group capex – 2008 – 2012
Table 55 – Historic - PLDT Group’s service revenue and EBITDA (PhP billion) – 2010 – 2013

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Asia – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Southeast Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Southeast Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2015 – 2029
Chart 9 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers by major operator – 2013 – 2026
Chart 10 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by MNO – 2013 – 2026
Chart 11 – Change in the total number of PLDT’s mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2026
Chart 12 – Change in the number of PLDT’s mobile subscribers by type – 2020 – 2026
Chart 13 – Change in the number of Smart’s mobile subscribers by category – 2015 – 2026
Chart 14 – Growth in the number of Sun Cellular’s mobile subscribers by category – 2011 – 2022
Chart 15 – Change in the number of TNT’s mobile subscribers – 2014 – 2026
Chart 16 – Development of Smart’s mobile ARPU by category – 2014 – 2026
Chart 17 – Development of Sun Cellular’s mobile ARPU by category – 2011 – 2022
Chart 18 – Change in TNT’s mobile ARPU – 2014 – 2026
Chart 19 – Development of PLDT’s mobile revenue by type – 2020 – 2026
Chart 20 – Change in the number of Globe Telecom’s mobile subscribers by type – 2015 – 2026
Chart 21 – Globe Telecom’s prepaid mobile subscribers by brand – 2015 – 2026
Chart 22 – Development of Globe Telecom’s mobile ARPU by segment – 2015 – 2026
Chart 23 – Development of Globe Telecom’s mobile revenue by service – 2015 – 2026
Chart 27 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2015 – 2029
Chart 28 – Growth in the number of PLDT’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2026
Chart 29 – Change in PLDT’s fixed broadband ARPU – 2012 – 2022
Chart 30 – Development of PLDT’s fixed broadband revenue by type – 2020 – 2026
Chart 31 – Growth in the number of Globe Telecom’s fixed and fixed wireless broadband subscribers – 2016 – 2025
Chart 32 – Increase in PLDT’s domestic fibre network length – 2017 – 2022
Chart 33 – Increase in the number of PLDT’s FttP premises – 2017 – 2025
Chart 39 – Change in the number of PLDT’s fixed-line subscribers – 2014 – 2026
Chart 42 – Growth in the number of Globe Telecom’s fixed-line voice subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Chart 43 – Change in the number of fixed lines and penetration – 2015 – 2029

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – PLDT’s mobile licenses by technology
Exhibit 4 – Major submarine cables with landing points in the Philippines
Exhibit 5 – Philippines’ data centre providers and specifications

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Philippines Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Philippine telcos invest to increase subsea cable capacity

Key Developments

Key companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed broadband market

Fixed network market

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views