Globe on SIM swap

[silver_corolla]

Totoo ba 'to av8or5?

Globe on SIM swap
(Businessworld)

Globe expects to save P300 million every quarter this year by pulling out of the SIM-swapping race.




Ayala-led Globe Telecom, Inc. said it will stop offering of swapping subscriber identification module (SIM) cards due to high costs.
This followed an announcement from rival Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. of quitting the offering.

Globe expects to save P300 million every quarter this year by pulling out of the race.

Gerardo C. Ablaza, Globe chief executive and president, told the company’s stockholders yesterday the average revenue per user (ARPU) generated from Globe users fell due to high acquisition costs.

Globe said postpaid acquisition cost per subscriber reached P8,872 for the first quarter, higher than P8,340 the year before.

For prepaid subscribers, acquisition cost was pegged at P226 and P87 for its second mobile brand Touch Mobile.

High acquisition costs however did not result in higher revenues per subscriber. ARPU dipped in the first quarter, largely due to low margins from data and voice revenues.

Net ARPU for postpaid subscribers inched back to P1,524 from P1,612 the year before.

For prepaid users, net ARPU decreased 30% to P250 from P357 for the same period in 2004. For Touch Mobile, net ARPU was slightly up 2% to P192 from P189 last year.

Mr. Ablaza said revenues from the net additions of subscribers from SIM-swapping activities will be compensated by a restructured packaging of wireless value-added services.

Applications in the pipeline will be streamed through multimedia messaging system, G-Cash - the mobile commerce offering of Globe - and General Packet Radio Service, a wireless communication standard for browsing the internet and sending of electronic mails.

"It is difficult to see big bursts in revenues toward the fourth quarter," Mr. Ablaza said. "We have to make the most out of our subscriber base and earn from them."

Globe had about 12.9 million subscribers as of the end of the first quarter, with a net addition of only 442,000 users.

By end of the year, the company wants to expand its network to cover 95% of the 82 million population and 87% of all 16 regions.

[karlbo]

globe sim swap for globe ended last may1 if im not mistaken

[baurtwellXUV]

tapos na ang sim swap ah...

[silver_corolla]

'Unhealthy' subscriber turnover from SIM swapping—Globe
(Inquirer, Erwin Oliva)

Globe officials say this practice has generated a negative impact on the company's mobile phone business since it only created an unhealthy monthly churn of subscribers.





WHEN rival operator Smart Communications introduced the (subscriber identification module) SIM swapping promo in 2003, Globe Telecom hesitated for nine months but eventually followed suit in early 2004.
Two years later, Globe officials say this practice has generated a negative impact on the company's mobile phone business since it only created an unhealthy monthly churn of subscribers.

SIM swapping involves either bulk or retail swapping of SIMs between rival operators. The practice, which was more of a marketing strategy, invited subscribers to swap their existing SIM - either from Smart or Sun Cellular -- for a Globe SIM. This created a temporary frenzy in the local market.

"It is a very unhealthy practice. When our competition started this in
2003, we hesitated for nine months. We really decided we didn't want to do it because we're concerned [about] the rotational churn," said Gerardo Ablaza, Jr., Globe Telecom president and chief executive officer, after an investor briefing on Monday.

"But by early 2004, it became apparent that if we don't do it, we will be at the short end of the stick because it will become one way. So we started doing it in early 2004. But personally I was never in favor of it," he added.

SIM swapping does not make for a good business strategy, remarked Ablaza, "My personal preference is to stay away from it."

The Globe official disclosed that their gradual withdrawal from this practice since it will save the company about 300 million pesos per quarter "or more" on the cost of operating SIM swapping.

"There are also hidden cost in the network because if you do this SIM swap, you have to have some provisions in the network which takes up capacity, which also translates to cost. So once you exit from SIM swapping, you now can use that capacity for more creative operations," he explained.

SIM swapping has apparently become a "trading activity" for some enterprising Filipinos taking advantage it, said Ablaza. "Some parties are giving out incentives. There are times that some are giving five for four SIMs swapped. So this creates a margin that makes a lucrative activity."

An estimated five million of 34 million subscribers are involved in SIM swapping activities, according to Globe.

In the first quarter of 2005, Globe’s total number of subscribers hit 3.8 million, a 73 percent increase compared to the same period in 2004. The net addition of subscribers slowed down to 33 percent, or 400,000, compared to the same period in 2004.

Increased numbers of its gross and net subscribers were driven mainly by the strong take up of the re-launched Touch Mobile pre-paid brand designed for lower-income subscribers, Globe said.