Liberty loss doubled in ’10

MANILA, Philippines—Liberty Telecom Holdings Inc.—a joint venture between San Miguel Corp. and Qatar’s Qtel group—said its losses reached P1.146 billion in 2010.

This is more than double the net loss of P557 million in 2009.

The company, however, was able to book P218 million in revenues, the bulk of which came from the take-up of its Internet services using the wireless interoperability microwave access (WiMax) technology.

“The company started its WiMax broadband service and consequently recognized P210 million in revenues in 2010 compared to nil in 2009,” the company said.

“The growth of Philippine telecommunications market is now being driven by the emergence of broadband services,” the company added.

Liberty Telecom is confident that it can gain a significant portion of the country’s broadband Internet sector, which is now the main growth driver in the telecommunications sector, within the next few years.

The company said it planned to accelerate the rollout of its wireless Internet network in a bid to break into the lucrative but competitive industry.

“The management of the company expects to capture a portion of the market by offering reliable broadband services to specific customer segments at competitive prices,” the company said.

The firm noted that the broadband was currently dominated by the largest telecommunications providers, namely Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom Inc.

Liberty Telecom, which operates under the brand Wi-Tribe, is expected by industry players to be a fierce competitor in the telecommunications sector, which will soon return to a duopoly between PLDT and Globe.

PLDT will have a 70-percent market share once its P74.1-billion acquisition of the Gokongwei family’s Sun Cellular brand is completed, while Globe will corner the rest.