Globe says voice, broadband services surged during holidays

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Telecom subscribers called and went online more during the Christmas and New Year break to send their holiday greetings, on the back of innovative offers on voice calls and broadband services for both postpaid and prepaid.

The company said voice call minutes during the peak holiday dates of Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1 increased by an average of 50 percent year-on-year. On New Year’s Day alone, the number of calls increased 70 percent compared to the previous year.

“We surmise that the increase in call traffic means that customers have responded well to our call offers and promos available during the period,” Globe international and core service head Nikko Acosta said.

Even during the holidays, Globe continued to provide bulk voice offers like SuperCombo and AstigCombo promos and international call promos such as Globe IDD Sakto Calls and Globe IDD Tingi. This made calling more affordable for subscribers who wished to connect with their loved ones here or abroad.

Internet usage for the holidays also peaked by an average of almost 200 percent, with users taking advantage of the phenomenal growth of Facebook and Twitter to send their yuletide greetings.

The Philippines is now at sixth place in the roster of top Facebook users as of December 2010, showing an unprecedented growth of 4,738 percent over the last two years. The country is also the fourth largest in the number of Twitter users across Asia with over three million users.

“Greater accessibility to the Internet, now with more affordable rates and growing preference for social networking made Filipinos turn to these channels to send greetings at least during the holidays,” Acosta said.

Moving forward to 2011, Globe said it will continue to offer exciting and affordable voice and data promos while strengthening its network capacities to fully support its services. The company recently announced its plans to increase network capacity in light of the upsurge in voice and data usage. Globe serves over 25 million subscribers and is the leading brand in the postpaid category with revenues in excess of P10 billion as of third quarter of 2010 with over a million postpaid subscribers.