Sun Cellular says it’s leading postpaid market
MANILA – Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., the operator of Sun Cellular, yesterday said it has overtaken the country’s two leading mobile phone providers in the postpaid market and expects to gain more as competition cannot match its unlimited packages.
“We achieved this never-before-attained milestone only seven years from start up and with our rivals enjoying a ten-year head start. We are getting seven out of every ten new postpaid subscribers,” Charles Lim, chief executive of Sun Cellular said in a statement.
Sun Cellular claimed that they are now the leading mobile phone provider in postpaid market with one million subscribers and more than 15 million prepaid subscribers.
“With every seven out of ten new postpaid subscribers coming to us, we have found the sweet spot. We expect to gain more market share in the near future since our rivals will not be able to match our unlimited packages,” he said.
Sun Cellular entered the market in 2003 with an unlimited call and text service offering.
In response to Sun’s unlimited call and text offers, both Globe Telecom and Smart Communications Inc. created a new set of promo offerings that kept competition tight in the local market.
Lim also said that Sun’s unmatched unlimited service and rates were the keys for its number one spot in postpaid market.
“We can meet peak load demand without congestion. This is the advantage of being a latecomer in the business. We got the latest and the best infrastructure, and are offering rates that could reduce a subscriber’s cost anywhere from 40 to 80 percent per month,” he said.
Sought for comment, Ramon Isberto, spokesperson of Smart Communications Inc., said : “Our usual practice is we do not comment on the claims of competition.”
Smart has a total of 439,844 postpaid subscribers out of 45.34 million subscriber base. Its prepaid subscribers totaled 44.91 million.
In a text message, Yolly Crisanto, the head of Globe’s Corporate Communications, said “ No comment.”
Globe, who claimed the leader in postpaid market has a total of 909,466 subscribers as of June.It said its prepaid subscribers stood at 23.71 million.
The postpaid segment accounts for 4 percent of Globe’s total mobile subscriber base at 24.62 million.
Ernest Cu, president and chief executive of Globe had said that it will offer more promotional offerings “to compete for market share.”
Cu said Globe wanted to protect and expand its market share by offering aggressive promotional offerings.
Edgardo Cabarios, director of the National Telecommunications Commission ‘s Common Carrier and Authorization Department, said telcos’ promo offerings would continue to increase mobile phone usage.
Cabarios, however, said that margins in the industry were likely to drop mostly because of the aggressive promos.
The Ayala-led telco and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. blamed the increasing preference for unlimited services affected their earnings.*PNA
