PLDT expects revenue boost from Quadplay

MANILA, Philippines - Dominant telecommunications and digital services provider Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co. (PLDT) can expect higher revenues following its move to introduce the bundling service Quadplay, according to a unit of global financial information services Fitch Group.

“Incorporating mobile services into its multi-play offering will help to increase PLDT’s ARPU (average revenue per user), and enable the operator to build subscriber loyalty and preserve its dominance in the face of rising competition,” London-based BMI Research said in its Industry Trend Analysis.

PLDT through its residential digital services unit PLDT Home is the first telco firm to offer the Quadplay service in the country.

Quadplay is a bundling offer where mobile services from Smart Communications, Inc. are packaged with voice, data, as well as with cable television provided by Cignal TV.

“Bundling mobile plans together with other services increases the incentive for users to migrate to postpaid mobile plans, and will have the effect of raising blended ARPU and lowering churn,” BMI Research said.

It said PLDT’s strategy of providing a free iPhone in the new bundle could also stimulate consumption of data which is still low in the domestic market.

For an additional fixed monthly fee, Quadplay subscribers get a free iPhone with free 500 minutes worth of calls to Smart and PLDT landline subscribers; 2,000 SMS to all mobile networks; 250Mb Internet data; and unlimited music streaming via Spinnr every month, all to be charged to one PLDT bill.