PLDT’s President and CEO, Alfredo Panlilio, has announced that the company is actively developing new, affordable products and services to meet the demands of the broadband market. While PLDT is optimistic about the continued growth of its fixed line revenue in 2023, the impact of inflation may slightly temper this projection.
“There is still demand, but maybe it is not as huge as last year. Because of the challenged wallets of consumers, affordability becomes an issue. (The) challenge for the business is there are still a lot of people who need connectivity. Hopefully, we can come up with products that are aligned to (the needs of our customers),” Panlilio said.
PLDT is exploring the possibility of providing smaller data connectivity bundles, known as “sachet-sized” bundles, to cater to the low-income segments of the economy. Additionally, the company is expanding its range of prepaid and wireless services to offer customers a wider selection of options.
“We will see some prepaid and some fixed wireless inclusion, but we are trying to be sensitive to what the market can afford,” Panlilio said.
In the previous year, PLDT’s fixed line revenue surged by 10 percent to reach P128.71 billion, offsetting the two percent decline in wireless earnings to P104.27 billion. Despite this, the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has projected that inflation will likely fall between the range of five to seven percent due to rising costs of food, fuel, and transportation. This, in turn, may have an impact on the demand for goods and services considered non-essential, including broadband subscriptions.
As a result, there may be a decrease in demand for non-essential goods and services, including broadband subscriptions. In response, internet providers have introduced smaller retail packets of data services to cater to the low-income segment.
For the fifth consecutive year, PLDT, led by Pangilinan, has been recognized by Ookla for achieving the highest speed score of 86.52 in 2022.
According to Ookla’s report, PLDT was found to have the fastest speeds across various regions in the Philippines, including Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, and Pasig City, outperforming its competitors.
As of 2022, PLDT’s broadband segment has 2.9 million subscribers, with 6.08 million fiber ports installed in 17,700 barangays nationwide.
Source: The Philippine Star
