As it exits rehab, Liberty to take on telco titans

LIBERTY Telecoms Holdings Inc., the telco venture of San Miguel Corp. and Qatar Telecom, will soon provide a full range of telecommunications services from text messaging, calls and mobile broadband as it expects to exit corporate rehabilitation by 2016, according to telco chair Ramon Ang.

San Miguel remains committed to growing the business, but he stopped short of giving details like when new products may be rolled out because these will directly compete with larger players like Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom. Liberty’s main business is providing Wimax broadband services, Ang said Thursday.

“We are soon going to come out with a business plan for telecommunications that will be able to serve the public better,” Ang said following the company’s stockholders’ meeting. “It’s going to be voice, SMS [short messaging service] and mobile broadband.”

Ang cited the potential growth for mobile broadband, given that it is one of the fastest growing segments in the industry, partly driven by the availability of inexpensive smartphones from China.

Margins in the traditional SMS and mobile services, he said, remain attractive for Liberty, which has been struggling financially.

Liberty reported a comprehensive loss of P1.54 billion last year—up 1.9 percent from the P1.51 billion reported in the same period in 2012.

Liberty said the decline came as it noted a decrease in subscribers for Wimax broadband. Liberty said revenues during the period were down almost a quarter to P447.35 million while expenses were also down 15 percent to P1.65 billion.

San Miguel, Ang said, remains committed in supporting the growth of Liberty, where it owns a 40-percent stake.