Smart’s Talk ‘N Text brand adds 1.7M new subscribers in 1st quarter

MANILA, Philippines—The low-cost brand of Smart Communications Inc. continued to perform strongly in the first quarter, posting a record contribution to the telco’s total revenues.

In a statement, Smart said the Talk ‘N Text brand added 1.7 million new subscribers in the first quarter of the year, outpacing other prepaid brands in the industry. The brand contributed 30 percent to Smart’s overall revenues—up from the 28 percent reported in the same period last year.

“The brand achieved this stellar performance primarily because of its clear positioning as a value brand addressing the needs of a large base of customers and rising penetration across all regions,” Smart wireless consumer division head Emmanuel Lorenzana said.

In the first three months of the year, Talk ‘N Text subscriber base reached 22.2 million—8.3 percent up from that of the previous quarter, and 14.2 percent higher than the total reported in the same period last year.

“The exceptionally strong usage of various Talk ‘N Text voice and SMS offers and low churn rate indicate a healthy brand preference among subscribers,” Lorenzana said.

Among the brand’s “best-selling” services were the Talk ‘N Text Gaan UnlitextPlus, Gaan All-in-One, and Pa-Tok-o-Text buckets, and their denominations at various price points.

“Usage of these offers has driven the overall first-quarter revenues and wallet-share of Talk ‘N Text to increase year over year and quarter on quarter,” the company said.

Smart is the mobile service arm of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s largest telecommunications firm. Smart subscribers to various brands, including Talk ‘N Text, total 66 million.

PLDT posted a net income of P9.3 billion in the first quarter—down from last year’s P10.6 billion.