Sun Cellular grabs lead in postpaid mobile subscriptions

MANILA, Philippines - Sun Cellular, the mobile phone brand of Gokongwei-owned Digital Telecommunications (Digitel), has taken the lead in the mobile phone service postpaid business with its subscribers hitting the one-million mark.

In a statement, the company said it also has over 15 million prepaid subscribers, bringing its total cellular subscriber base at 16 million.

In terms of total subscriber base, Smart Communications, the PLDT Group’s wireless unit, still leads with 45.3 million as of end-June 2010, followed by Ayala-controlled Globe Telecom with 24.6 million.

As of end-June 2010, Globe Telecom had 909,466 postpaid subscribers and 23.7 million prepaid subscribers. Meanwhile, the PLDT Group’s total cellular subscriber base for the first six months of 2010 was at 45.3 million, of which 439,844 are postpaid subscribers and the rest, or 44.8 million, are prepaid (Smart Buddy, 25.76 million; Talk ‘N Text, 18 million; and Red Mobile, 1.1 million).

“We achieved this never-before-attained milestone only seven years from start-up and with our rivals enjoying a 10-year headstart. We are getting seven out of every 10 new postpaid subscribers,” Sun Cellular business unit CEO Charles Lim said.

Lim said the key is Sun’s unmatched unlimited service and rates, both made possible by Sun’s network which which uses the latest technology available.

“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.

Sun, which started commercial operations in 2003, covers the whole country with almost 7,000 cell sites.

“With every seven out of 10 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,” Lim added.

Sun Cellular is under the JG Summit umbrella whose trademark quality and pricing philosophy has catapulted airline bfrand Cebu Pacific and flagship food and beverage unit Universal Robina to leadership. Recently it introduced its Go Hotels which offers again best-in-class quality and service for a daily rate as low as P288. 

Sun Cellular pioneered the unlimited service in the country. Its rivals had followed suit but offer it only as promos. Sun unlimited is a product in itself, which means it is a permanent offering.

“For P350 per month, a subscriber can talk to her mother in the province the whole day for 30 days. And the phone is free,” he said.

“We have a similar but better package for companies: Managers can talk to anybody in the company the whole day Sun to Sun, but if the employees want to call the other carriers, they have to buy their own load. This affords companies whole-day connectivity and equally important, control of costs,” Lim pointed out.