Globe taps TM market for Internet offering

Globe Telecom Inc. has opened up its Internet services to subscribers of its budget brand Touch Mobile (TM), in a bid to bring high-value data offerings to a wider base of subscribers.

In a statement, the Ayala-led phone firm said it would launch the new service, which would allow TM subscribers to go online for 15 minutes for just P5.

“This mobile browsing service is the lowest browsing denomination available for mobile Internet users today,” Globe said.

“With this new offer, TM subscribers can now stay connected to the World Wide Web wherever they are without having to spend so much,” TM group head Issa Cabreira said in the statement.

The cost of smart phones, which are designed precisely for Internet access, has gone down significantly in the past 12 months. This made smart phones affordable to a greater number of Filipinos.

“We understand that our subscribers value their hard-earned money. With this new mobile browsing offer, they can go online anytime and anywhere they want to keep their bonds intact with their friends and communities at a cost that’s definitely easy on their pockets,” Cabreira said.

She said the new service would allow TM subscribers to post status updates on social networking accounts, check and send e-mails and download online applications from the Internet using mobile phones.

Globe has about 27 million subscribers. About 12 million are under the TM brand. This means that prior to the opening of the new service, only 15 million of Globe’s users have access to mobile Internet and are able to contribute to data revenues.

Mobile Internet has been tagged as the next growth area for local telecommunications firms. This is seen to offset the decline in profit from traditional call and text messaging services due to price pressures caused by stiff industry competition.