Sun Cellular leads industry growth

MANILA, Philippines - Mobile phone operator Sun Cellular raised its net service revenues by 17 percent in the first half of 2012, earning P10.2 billion compared to P8.7 billion for the same period last year, the highest growth rate for any local telco this year.

Sun Cellular president and chief executive officer Orlando Vea attributed the company’s strong first half results to further increasing sales of postpaid subscriptions and positive consumer takeup on their new prepaid load variants, increased demand for broadband products and the marked improvement of Sun’s network coverage powered by its synergy with parent company, PLDT.

Revenue growth for the company’s postpaid, prepaid, and broadband segments all posted double-digit growth rates which combined led to Sun Cellular’s continuing to blaze the path for the local telecom industry.

“We have built on our growth momentum in the first quarter of the year. We are now reaping the rewards of the synergies between companies in the PLDT wireless group, as it adds more value to our existing services such as postpaid offerings and prepaid load variants, among others,” Vea said.

Vea added that network improvements will continue and they will lend more focus this time to enhancing network quality. Since the start of the year, Sun Cellular has enhanced its coverage, with the highest marked improvement in Mindanao and Northern Luzon. Vea said, Sun will continue deploying high-gain antennae as well as upgraded network elements to meet the growing demands for its postpaid and prepaid products and services.

Chief operating officer Charles Lim said there has been an increase in demand for affordable smartphones that come with best-value plans.

“Sun Cellular is committed to providing powerful yet affordable Android-based smartphones to its customers. With the right Sun postpaid plan, consumers will now be able to expand their horizons in mobility and go beyond simply calling and texting.” Lim explained.

In prepaid, Sun Cellular introduced new load variants in its Text Unlimited and Combo Loads that has seen good acceptance by the market.

“Sun continues to be a practical choice for prepaid customers because of its improving network and great value products, hence they are starting to use their lines more often. As a result, people are starting to load in higher denominations.” Lim explained. “Of course our Call and Text Unlimited load variants are still there and are now complemented with more added features, making it the best-value unlimited variant in the market. As you know we continue to strive in providing best value services that cater to all market segments, including small and medium businesses,” he added.

Sun’s wireless broadband base also grew significantly during the period. “ We are expecting these numbers to rise steadily as we expand the reach of our 3G network nationwide” Lim said.

He added that Sun broadband started offering group plans, multi-SIM plans, and SIM-only plans to cater to subscribers who want to use Sun Cellular’s broadband service in their various gadgets, in anticipation of the continuing growing demand for broadband access. 

“We would like to make sure that our existing and potential subscribers are able to take advantage of the synergies available within the PLDT group, and we are glad that these are starting to pay off,” Lim concluded.