Mobile phone subscription poised to slow down: NTC
Sales of the Philippine telecommunication firms are expected to fall next year due to slowing mobile phone subscribers growth, according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
Edgardo Cabarios, head of NTC’s common carrier and authorization department, said mobile phone subscribers were likely to grow single digit next year due to “market saturation.”
Cabarios projected that mobile phone subscribers will grow between 10 percent and 11 percent this year.
The country’s total mobile phone subscribers base stood at 84.5 million as of end-September this year, 44.1 million of which were cornered by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT); 25.2 million by Globe Telecom; and more than 15 million by Sun Cellular.
The country’s cellular phone subscribers hit 77.04 million last year, up 13.14 percent from the 68.09 million a year before.
An industry research firm, Frost & Sullivan earlier said that the country’s mobile phone penetration rate reached 96 percent and expected to hit 126 percent by 2015 .
Despite the maturity of the telecom market, Cabarios said there was still growth from the broadband services.
The NTC official said broadband subscriber was expected to register three-digit growth in the next two to three years.
The country’s broadband subscribers stood at 3.6 million last year, up by 102.81 percent from the 1.77 million in 2008.
Earlier, the regulator issued a draft memorandum order requiring all telecom companies to reveal the minimum speed of their broadband services.
The NTC said broadband service providers should specify the minimum broadband connection speed and service reliability, as well as the service rates in their advertisements, flyers, brochures and service and legal agreements.*PNA
