PLDT Global sees solid growth of worldwide take

HONG KONG—The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) expects revenue from its international operations to grow at a double-digit rate next year as the company taps new markets with large concentrations of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

PLDT Global, the group’s international subsidiary, said part of its expansion operations called for a return to the European market, particularly Italy where over 300,000 OFWs remained unserved by Philippine firms.

“PLDT Global has grown at a double-digit growth, both in terms of revenues and income, in the last four years,” the company’s president Alex Caeg said.

The company has been setting up mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) to serve OFWs in various parts of the world.

Through MVNO arrangements, PLDT Global may offer traditional telecommunications services to subscribers using the infrastructure of partner telcos in those markets.

PLDT Global has existing MVNO operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and Malaysia, giving the company a combined subscriber base of 250,000 Filipinos. The company also sells long-distance call minutes to Filipinos in the west coast of the United States.

In a briefing with Manila-based reporters, Caeg said the company would open up new MVNO operations in several markets with large Filipino populations.

In Italy, Caeg said, the company will revive its existing joint venture with Hutchison to bring back services to Filipinos. PLDT Global’s Italian operations were shut down in 2010 due to weak demand.

“There were market realities that made our business unviable in Italy. We were operating on a pure 3G network, but the adoption rate of 3G phones was not yet that high,” Caeg said, adding that its partner’s 3G signal was not yet as ubiquitous as it needed to be.

“It was a lesson at the end of the day, and we had to conduct more incisive market research this time around. We have to be in all places where Filipinos work, live and even worship,” he said.

PLDT Global also wants to start operating MVNO services in Japan, with the help of one of PLDT’s key shareholders, NTT Docomo.

“We have been working with NTT, and our intention is to go into that market very soon,” Caeg said.