PLDT expands outside Phl

HONG KONG – Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), in its bid to expand its presence outside the Philippines, is entering into at least two more mobile virtual network operations (MVNOs) that will allow it to offer telecommunications and remittance services using the network of a foreign operator.

PLDT Global CEO Alex Caeg said negotiations are currently ongoing with mobile operators in Taiwan, Macau, Guam, Malaysia, the US and Saudi Arabia, but refused to disclose which deals will be closed within the year.

PLDT has existing MVNO arrangements in Hong Kong and Singapore, with a combined subscriber base of 100,000 overseas Filipinos.

PLDT Global, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLDT, is the international sales and marketing arm of the PLDT Group. It aims to “own” the 8.6 million global Filipinos as its subscribers, by tailor-fitting PLDT products and services to cater to their needs.

In 2010, the PLDT subsidiary earned about P3 billion and aims to grow its top line by about 10 percent.

The top 15 countries in terms of Filipino population are the US, Saudi Arabia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Qatar, Malaysia, Japan, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Taiwan, and South Korea which account for 83 percent of total.

Studies have shown that Filipinos abroad on the average spend about $58, $160, and $190 per month for telecommunications services in Asia, Europe and the US respectively, while on the average, they remit about 50 percent of their income to the Philippines.

The Philippines’ largest telco entered into its first MVNO in Hong Kong in 2009 and Smart Pinoy is now the biggest mobile service provider to Filipinos here. 1528 Smart Pinoy, PLDT Global’s MVNO operator in Hong Kong, is being offered using the network of Hong Kong’s CSL and offers the most affordable voice call and text messaging rates to the Philippines. 1528 Smart Pinoy now serves over 75,000 customers in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was followed by another MVNO in Singapore (where over 163,000 Filipinos reside) in 2006 in partnership with Mobile One and then by Italy, but “market conditions” forced PLDT to pull out of Italy.

Caeg said PLDT Global’s strategy is to expand by entering into new MVNOs or branded partnerships in countries where the Filipino population is high. When going into MVNOs, PLDT invests about $2 to $3 million initially, while the profit is split between PLDT and the foreign operator.

“We also aim to increase our subscriber base by tapping new markets within current MVNO areas. For instance, we can tap the Indonesian market in Hong Kong. PLDT Global will also continue its product diversification and this will include broadband TV, new mobile remittance services, reselling other products, among others,” PLDT Hong Kong general manager John Palanca, for his part, revealed.

Some of the ethnic markets being eyed by PLDT Global are the Indonesians, Thais, Indians, to name a few. In Hong Kong alone, the Indonesians now number 185,000, compared to the 165,000 Filipino population.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Filipinos have been benefiting from an innovative payments gateway for Philippine products and services through the Smart Pinoy Store, where they can buy or pay for healthcare plans, school tuition fees, insurance premiums, health check-ups and medical procedures through a prepaid system. The store also allows Filipinos to remit money and pay utility bills.

PLDT Global, through 1528 Smart Pinoy, has launched a mobile Internet service that enables global Filipinos in Hong Kong to instantly communicate and know the status of their family and friends in the Philippines via social networking sites.

It has likewise launched an innovative new service that puts two cellphone numbers inside a single SIM card. Called ‘Multiline,’ the service attaches a “virtual” Philippine cellphone number supplied by Smart Communications to a Smart Pinoy SIM which has a regular Hong Kong number. Cellphone users in the Philippines pay only local voice and SMS rates when calling the virtual Philippine number of the Smart Pinoy SIM. This also applies to the various bucket and unlimited text offers of Smart and Talk ‘N Text.